Help! I can not open Text files?

[abailey152]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

dont think so neil i have just tried opening a zip file with notepad and it does but produces a load of garbage

There are certain files which will make Notepad give this error. I think it depends on the file's size.

Having said that, in this case I don't think that is the problem, as mixteus says the error appears even when Notepad is started by itself. I tend to agree, it sounds like a corrupt Notepad.exe file. Maybe worth scanning for a virus just in case.

[beardsley]

Try running notepad.exe from the start/run prompt. It maybe that exe has got lost from the list of extensions to automatically check.

If that does not work, try running %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe. That should eliminate any path problems.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by abailey152

There are certain files which will make Notepad give this error. I think it depends on the file's size.

Having said that, in this case I don't think that is the problem, as mixteus says the error appears even when Notepad is started by itself. I tend to agree, it sounds like a corrupt Notepad.exe file. Maybe worth scanning for a virus just in case.

It's possible that a document (maybe) has been saved as notepad.exe on the path ... which would cause this error .... hence the search.

[Sociable]

May pay to back track a little and change your folder view settings so you can see the extensions of all files.

Having done that next step will be to confirm the file you are trying to open has the txt extension and not an EXE which is the way it is being dected right now.

Then right click a known good txt file and check it is set to open with notepad and confirm this is the "official" version of notepad.exe in the main Windows directory by using the "Browse" link. (The true Notepad.exe is located in the main Windows root directory btw)

The above check will at least make sure "normal" txt files are assocaited with notepad correctly and all that will be left then is to check the contents of the specific txt file giving the problem.

My guess is that the file in the attachment is not a valid txt file but possibly a renamed exe file or some form of archive file.

Hope that helps

[paulyoung666]

folder options , file types , scroll down to .txt and make sure it is notepad next to it , is that what you were saying sociable ??????????

[Sociable]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

folder options , file types , scroll down to .txt and make sure it is notepad next to it , is that what you were saying sociable ??????????

Can be done that way too but you can actually set the file association via an individual file by right clicking it selecting "properties" then using the browse option and making sure the always open with box is checked after following the open with option in properties.

The view settings change is in the "View" not "file type" tab as that way you can check what file extension the file has. The default in XP is to hide extensions of known file types which makes that process harder which is why I added that step.

[MetaWraith]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

dont think so neil i have just tried opening a zip file with notepad and it does but produces a load of garbage

That's exactly why adding a shortcut to either notepad or quikview into your send-to menu is such a help. It lets you view the header of any file from a simple rightclick within explorer. For example to see which version of autocad created a dwg.

EDIT
On non NT systems Notepad has a filesize limitation of about 40K

[MetaWraith]

Till Mixteus gets back to us we wont know for sure,
but it certainly looks like a rogue duplicate notepad exe on the path, as has already been speculated.

Mix, can you check the properties of each of the start menu entries that you used to open notepad and see where they point to. Also do a search of all drives for notepad.* and see what turns up.

[mixteus]

Originally Posted by Neil

I dont think that Notepad is the issue here-what is it you're trying to open that won't open in Notepad Mixteus??

I am trying to open a "txt" file.

As paul666 has stated I think the association has become corrupted.

Thank you for your reply.

[mixteus]

Originally Posted by MetaWraith

Till Mixteus gets back to us we wont know for sure,
but it certainly looks like a rogue duplicate notepad exe on the path, as has already been speculated.

Mix, can you check the properties of each of the start menu entries that you used to open notepad and see where they point to. Also do a search of all drives for notepad.* andd what turns up.

Ok Meta,I will do a search for Notepad's,btw I completed a scan and Norton came up with 3 suspects.

These have now been removed.

[mixteus]

Meta,

I have done search and came up with 17 files,2 of which I copied from paulyoung666.

I think TXT files have been associated incorrectly,god knows how.

I went into folder option's and looked at the association for TXT file and it is linked to

"Windows Socket 32 Bit DLL"?

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by mixteus

Meta,

I have done search and came up with 17 files,2 of which I copied from paulyoung666.

I think TXT files have been associated incorrectly,god knows how.

I went into folder option's and looked at the association for TXT file and it is linked to

"Windows Socket 32 Bit DLL"?

Think you've found the prob there

[paulyoung666]

more and more like a virus

or am i again

[Sociable]

Originally Posted by mixteus

I went into folder option's and looked at the association for TXT file and it is linked to

"Windows Socket 32 Bit DLL"?

Ok that is the error which is linked to the files picked up by Norton.

Problem is Norton only removes the virus it can not repair the damage it did prior to detection.

Follow the directions given to re-associate txt files with the "Notepad.exe" already given and you will be back to normal as the virus which made the change has already been removed by Norton.

EDIT 1: BTW if you are on XP or ME make sure to turn off system restore and run another scan then reboot and do not turn system restore back on until you have had a full system scan come up with a completely clean result.

EDIT 2: When you run Norton make sure to note the name of any virus detected as some will require a specific removal tool and specific repair steps available from the main Norton site.

EDIT 3: The explanation for the original error message is that the virus application set to run on opening a txt file had been removed by Norton and so there was no valid program to access. Odds are there will be some residual stuff in the registry linked to this and the Norton site should have details on how to fix that too.

[mixteus]

No joy!
I can right click file and change to "open with" Wordpad but it will not play ball with Notepad.