Sunday, September 25, 2011

If you are having trouble accessing Rescreatu, you can follow the steps below to make it work.

***NOTE: I am using Windows XP. If you are using another version of windows or a different operating system, you will have to do some google searching to find out how to make this work. 

I am now using Windows 7, and the process is basically the same.

You'll need to first turn on hidden files and folders in your Windows settings. To do this, open any folder on your PC, click Tools, then Folder Options. Once you have that open, click the View tab. In the View tab, look for Hidden Files and Folders, and put a tick mark next to the radio button that says Show Hidden Files and Folders. Next, UNcheck the box that says Hide Protected Operating System Files. Click Yes when it asks if you really want to do this. Also, UNcheck the box above that, it says Hide Extensions for Known File Types. Now click Apply, then Ok.

Now browse to your Windows folder, usually located on the C: drive. From there, navigate to System32 > drivers > etc. Once you are in the "etc" folder, look for a file with NO extension, called HOSTS. Open this file by right-clicking it, choosing "Open" or "Open With", and then choosing Notepad. When the file is opened in Notepad, you will see something like this

(NOTE This is what the HOSTS file looks like on Windows XP):



# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host


127.0.0.1       localhost

(NOTE: This is what the HOSTS file looks like on Windows 7):

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1       localhost
# ::1             localhost

***NOTE!!! Never, ever, ever erase OR change the "localhost" line.****

Now, on the first blank line at the END of your hosts file, copy and paste this:


38.81.130.55 www.rescreatu.com
38.81.130.55 images.rescreatu.com
38.81.130.55 rescreatu.com


Leave a blank line after the last line you see there. Now save the file by clicking File, Save. If it pops up the dialogue window asking where to save and with what extension, make sure you are saving IN THE SAME FOLDER from which you opened...the Windows\System32\drivers\etc folder. For file TYPE, choose "all files" and do NOT type in an extension.

Look in the folder once your file is saved, and make sure it still says "hosts" with no extension. If it does, great. If it does not, remove that extension - just rename it to "hosts".

You may have to close and re-launch your browser for the changes to apply, but you should now be able to access Rescreatu.

***Note: Some antivirus programs protect editing of the HOSTS file. If you are denied access to editing or saving the file, first right-click it in the folder, choose Properties, and un-check the Read Only tick box.

If you are still having problems, feel free to post here or e-mail me at contact.rescreatu@gmail.com and I will help as much as I can. If you choose to contact me, please give me as much detail as possible about the problem you are having getting this to work so that I can better help you.

***UPDATED TO NEW IP Jan 29 2012. So sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused - I didn't realize you guys were still using this. ♥
***UPDATED TO NEW IP Nov 12 2013. We upgraded to a new server last night, we now have shiny fast new hardware to run around on!

Troubleshooting Tips!
If you are unable to save the HOSTS file due to administrative rights issues, try running notepad as an administrator. To do this, right-click on your Notepad shortcut and choose Run as Administrator. From there, you would use the File > Open option to navigate to the folder that HOSTS resides in. (Thanks to Wolf for this helpful tip!)