Can you solve my problem in editing the "hosts" file ?

Question

I have already entered a lot of ip's & links in the "hosts" file to block advertising pop-ups in Win.XP, after opening the "hosts" file by using the "Notepad" program & saved it. Now, when I try to add more ip's & links in the "hosts" file it doesn't get saved & another text file is created with the same name. I wonder how did it get saved in the first instace. What do I need to do, to add more ip's & links in the "hosts" file & save it too ?
I am also not able to rename or delete the "hosts" file so that I can create another file with the same name & edit it. And as a "hosts" file is already present I can't create another file with the same name.
I have posted this question several times but no one seems to have the solution.
I beg, if you have the solution please help & for God's sake don't bluff if you don't know the right solution.

I choosed "Save As" from "File" menu & choosed "All Files" from "Save as type" but it got saved as "hosts.txt"

Answer 1

The HOSTS file is an ordinary text file. My changes save with no problem. Save your file by using "Save as ... " so you can be sure you are saving it back into its original location.

Answer 2

there should be no extension for the file. the filename should be just 'hosts' and not 'hosts.txt', 'hosts.ini', etc. to save the file without the extension, after editing, choose 'save as' and for the 'save file as', select 'all files'. hope this helps.