windows 7 - Browsers ignoring hosts file

Until recently my browsers started to ignore my hosts file. I have Windows 7 operating system installed.

192.168.0.5 livesite.com

I have tried:

• Clearing browser cache


• Issued "ipconfig /flushdns" from the command line


• Issued "ping livesite.com" from the command line (response was "Reply from 192.168.0.5: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128")


• Restarting unit


• Backing up original hosts file and making a new one


• Checking lmhosts.sam (everything is commented out)


• Connecting directly to modem using cable


• Checked \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\DataBasePath


• Tried it on another laptop with exactly the specs as I have

Then I tried

• Changing entry to "127.0.0.1 livesite.com" (ping ok, browser ok)


• Changing entry to "192.168.0.5 livesite.com" (ping ok, browser ok but only for a sec)


• Issued "ipconfig /flushdns" from the command line (ping ok, browser not ok)


• Changing entry to "127.0.0.1 livesite.com" (ping ok, browser ok)


• Changing entry to "192.168.0.5 livesite.com" (ping ok, browser not ok)


• Issued "ipconfig /flushdns" from the command line (ping ok, browser not ok)

Any idea why it worked for a moment? Or better yet anything I havent tried or some error I may have overlooked?