(
LAN
Manager
HOSTS file) A text file in a Windows network that provides name resolution of NetBIOS hostnames to IP addresses. The LMHOSTS files were the Windows counterpart to the HOSTS files in Unix, but have long since given way to the WINS naming system. LM stands for "LAN Manager," the name of Microsoft's earlier network operating system (NOS). See
NetBIOS,
WINS and
HOSTS file.