I am using Microsoft Windows XP and I tried to view some of my text files in which I created thru notebook but I got "access denied" error. So I thought I would try to click on the notebook icon on the start menu and it change it to dos. My question is does any one know how I can get my notebook back cuz I do alot of my work on text files...so I am lost with out it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou and kind regards,

datalinx1

Dani AI

Generated

Good to see got back up and running. A few extra checks and preventative steps that weren’t mentioned earlier will help if this happens again or if the “access denied” symptom returns.

If double‑clicking a .txt gives “access denied,” first try launching Notepad directly (Start → Run → notepad). If that fails, verify the Notepad executable exists in the Windows folder and looks legitimate (check Properties for size/date). If you suspect the file has been tampered with, a signature check tool such as Sigcheck can confirm publisher info and help spot a replaced exe (Sigcheck - Sysinternals).

“Access denied” is most commonly a permissions/ownership issue. In Windows XP you can disable Simple File Sharing (My Computer → Tools → Folder Options → View → uncheck “Use Simple File Sharing”) to get the Security tab. Use Advanced → Owner to take ownership if the file shows another account as owner, then grant your user Read/Execute permission. If Notepad won’t run system‑wide, running the System File Checker can repair missing or corrupted system files with sfc /scannow (it may request the Windows CD); see Microsoft’s SFC documentation for details (sfc command).

Finally, run a full antivirus/malware scan if anything looks suspicious (malware sometimes replaces utilities), and keep a small portable editor (Notepad++ portable or similar) and regular backups so work isn’t interrupted. For background on the Windows Notepad utility, see the Notepad overview (Notepad (software)).

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Go to System32\dllcache and find notepad.exe
Right Click on Notepad.exe and choose copy from the menu.

Go back to the System32 folder and right click on an empty space in the window. Choose paste from the menu. This will place a fresh copy of Notepad in your system32 folder. See if you can access notepad now.

Thank you .... that helped me out alot. :cool:

You are welcome :).

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