notepad.exe

Hi everyone
The problem is when I go to read something I get the message notepad.exe cannot be found. Did A search for it , found nothing. I'm running Wxpsp1 and IEsp1, adwhere 6.0, spybot s&d,spywareguard, spywareblaster, hijack this,cw shedder, avg 6.0, panicware popup stopper, jv16 pt. Everthing is checked for updates everday, have all windows updates. The problem started when I downloaded outpost free version firewall. It worked fine for 2 days and then all h--- broke loose, I got rid of it and have no notepad.exe. Please help, very desperate.
I even looked in the windows prefetch and all the files have changed to acrobat reader and are pink. I don't know what to do.

You may be ok just going back to your XP disc and doing a repair of your installation, but if things are that messed up, I'd probably go for a full reinstall.

hey Ucht, that was what I was trying to avoid, and don't really know how to do it anyway. Isn't there something else we can do to get it back?Thank you

You could search the web to see if there's a loose notepad.exe file you could get, but I really wouldn't recommend it.

Also, if you notepad's gone, there's probably other damage.

If you use system restore, you could try restoring to a pre-firewall point...

i tryed both of those options and system restore did not go back to jan. Any other ideas?

Have you tried Ucht's suggestion of repairing the install? Not the same as a reformat, and it could work.

hey karsh44, how do you do a repair?

If you really need notepad you can download it from here: <edited for copyright reasons>

Thank you very much. With out notepad you cannot read anything. Thank you !

glad to help

Hey guys!
Helping out each other is nice, but posting links to copyrighted software on a public forum is really crazy. And dumb.

M.

Link killed

Go to this folder C:\Windows\System32\dllcache
Click Tools/Folder Options Turn on show hidden files and folders.

Then turn OFF "hide protected operating system files".
This is your backup of windows system files which notepad is one of.

Find notepad.exe, right click and click copy. Next go to the shortcut for notepad in your start menu. Right click and choose properties.

Click "find target". This will open the containing folder.
Right click in this folder and click paste. Windows will tell you the file already exists do you want to replace it. Click yes and you have restored notepad.

Go back to Folder Options and hide the system files and hidden files again.

John

Hey, man, that was HELPFUL!!!
However, I would like to remind everyone where the right place for those files to go is, so that next time that thier programs or shortcuts or shell go looking for notepad.exe , then they will turn up! The correct places to copy notepad.exe in windoze are:

Windows 95: C:\WINDOWS
Windows 95/98/98SE/ME: C:\WINDOWS
Windows NT4/2000: C:\WINNT and C:\WINNT\System32
Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS\System32

Also, it is good to remember that in other versions of windoze, the notepad.exe file is different from others. How do I know? Because the filesizes are different! Apparently, if you put the wrong one in, you may sometimes get error messages 'Cannot find file NOTEPAD.EXE' or 'NOTEPAD.EXE' is not a valid Win32 application'. Windows 95, Windows ME, Windows NT4, Windows 2000, and even Windows XP ALL have different versions! (YES, even XP and 2000 are different!). The only 2 that have found to be the same are Windows 98 and 98SE. Smells like MiCr0$$$0fT might have done that on purpose... Anyway, be sure you get the right version!

Lastly, this problem with the disappearance of notepad.exe is often caused by viruses and trojans such as CWS.Googlems or other malware. If I were you, I would give that machine a REAL good scan with HiJack This, AdAware, and Panda Antivirus. If you do, and you keep your critical updates current, then you just might be able to get rid of the problem for good entirely! How do I know? I got it solved, but it took me ALL DAY!

By the way, when you get the file from C:\Windows\System32\dllcache, be SURE to COPY it - Don't cut and paste, or you will probably REGRET it later!

THANKS AGAIN, JOHN!

I have the same problem that was stated in this thread, BUT I also have another. For some reason, I can't seem to find the dllcache folder, it just isn't there. I've searched the folder, and yes, I do use Windows XP. Any ideas?