I can't set Notepad as default

[LucyDuke]

Weird problem, as usual.

I like Notepad. I use it a lot, mostly for .txt but also for .html and that sort of thing. At some point, my home computer forgot that I like to use Notepad. It used to be the default program to open .txt, and to edit .html. Now, it uses Wordpad as the default. When I use the "Open with..." thingy, Notepad isn't listed. If I browse for it, once I select it and go back to the "Open with..." window, it's already forgotten that I picked Notepad. It's like it's trying to pretend that Notepad doesn't exist.

So now if I want to use Notepad rather than Wordpad to open something, I have to open Notepad and then open the file from there. That, as you can imagine, is a pain in the ass.

What I'd love is direct access to whatever determines what pops up in that right-click menu. There's crap in there I don't like, and there's stuff missing that I want.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks!

 

[Mise]

Open Windows Explorer, click Tools -> Folder Options. In the File Types tab, scroll down to the "TXT" list item, and change the application to Notepad.

 

[LucyDuke]

I'm pretty sure I've already tried that, and got similar results. I'll check when I get home. Thanks!

 

[LucyDuke]

Yup, same problem. When you go through the "File Types" window, "Change" takes you to the same place as the menu "Open With..." item does. That window does not want to let me select Notepad!

I was hoping there was some kind of direct thing I could go to in the registry or something, like I did when my power schemes were all screwy.

 

[Mise]

Can't you hit "Browse" when the "open with..." menu comes up, and find notepad from there? It should be in the windows\system32 directory, I think.

Failing that, I'm not great at searching the registry, but you're probably right, there probably is something in there somewhere that will help...

 

[LucyDuke]

Yes, that's exactly what I do. It's just that once I find Notepad under C:\Windows\notepad.exe, after i select it and go back to the last screen, it's gone. It doesn't "drop" other programs like that, just Notepad.

 

[GVBN]

It's in
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open\command

(Default) REG_EXPAND_SZ %SystemRoot%\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE %1

Then the same for htmlfile