Solved Replace native Notepad in Win 8.1

[Archimede]

It might be a point of view.
Notepad, unadulterated, is about 100% perfect for its purpose. Microsoft probably saw no real reason the change it. For those who wanted something a little quicker, or handier, they did introduce Sticky notes.
If there were those who wanted a little more out of a quick note program, there is Wordpad, of course. With its now enhanced interface, it is almost a complete Word processor. Certainly offers as much as Editpad.

Well, we are not going to debate Microsoft's marketing strategies here on this thread, are we?

One thing is for certain, the existence of a gazillion notepad replacements on the market speaks for it itself, so I would not really describe it as "a point of view".

At the end it all boils down to what one's needs are (in relation to one's skills and one's purpose allocation to the specific tool), if you are happy with the native Notepad (or Wordpad) jolly good for you, mate.

 

[Archimede]

Well my friends, since this thread is called "Replace native Notepad" I was expecting some suggestions on how to actually replace the native Win 8.1 Notepad... So I am a bit disappointed that I only got comments about what to use for replacement and alternative ways to open supported files... Tsk, tsk I was under the impression that here I would get some interesting feedback.

JUST KIDDING guys

Thanks a lot for the input and (just to wrap it up) so far these are the results:

- My method (the elevated Command Prompt) takes in the reality less than 3 minutes to be implemented and it guarantees that all actions performed by the native Notepad are taken care of. In addition to that, there is no latency to speak of.

- The method to create a set of associations is also very nice, however I noticed some minor response time issues and there is obviously always the risk to forget God knows what extension that is normally taken care of by the native Notepad. Lastly, any file that the user would open via the "Open with / Notepad" context menu command would still be opened by the native Notepad and that is a no-no.

- The method to "hijack" the native Notepad path by replacing it in the registry with the path to a Notepad clone, IMHO deserves the gold medal here. I have not yet tried it but I am quite intrigued by that procedure and I guess that I will wait for SIW2 who originally posted the idea to provide some feedback (Are you using this yourself? If so, does it run smoothly? On which OS?) and then I guess that I will mark this thread as "Solved" and I will go on with my Win 8.1 tweaking

Thanks to all members who participated to this conversation.

 

[SIW2]

Yes, it works on 7/8/8.1.

I got it from Mark Russinovich (Technical Fellow in the Cloud and Enterprise Division at Microsoft and cofounder of Winternals ) so it must be the best method.

 

[Archimede]

Yes, it works on 7/8/8.1.

I got it from Mark Russinovich (Technical Fellow in the Cloud and Enterprise Division at Microsoft and cofounder of Winternals ) so it must be the best method.

Yes, I know who Mark Russinovich is Wow, you guys are buddies? Just kidding... Not for nothing I mentioned in my previous post that your suggestion definitely deserves the gold medal.

Thanks for having shared with us that procedure that I will certainly adopt.

Guys, thanks again and till the next thread... Over and out.

 

[Archimede]

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe.
string (REG_SZ) name "Debugger".
value "path_to_replacementnotepad.exe" /z

Hey SIW2

I have tested your method but I don't manage to get it to work... Could you please help?

The text below (between the 2 lines) is EXACTLY what I use in my .reg file (please check if I am doing something wrong):

_________________________________________

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe]
string (REG_SZ) name "Debugger"
value "D:\\full path\\to the replacement of\\notepad.exe" /z
_________________________________________

Eventually (just to make sure we are on the same page) could you please copy and paste here the exact content of the .reg file that works for you.

Thanks

 

[SIW2]

Here you go: View attachment IMAGEFILEEXECUTION.zip

In regedit should look like this.
My earlier post was for putting it in regedit manually creating the key etc



Using a regfile is like this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe]
"Debugger"="\"D:\\notepad replacement folder\\notepad.exe\" /z"

 

[Archimede]

Here you go: View attachment 35860

In regedit should look like this.
My earlier post was for putting it in regedit manually creating the key etc

View attachment 35862

Using a regfile is like this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe]
"Debugger"="\"D:\\notepad replacement folder\\notepad.exe\" /z"

Thanks a lot SIW 2

 

[Archimede]

I have juts tested the procedure originally posted by SIW2 (also described here Notepad2 ? Replacing Windows Notepad) and while that might be supporting Notepad2 and working fine for that specific app, it does not work for other notepad-clones... Or if it does, certain parameters need to be edited in the registry.

64 bit system users (watch out)... The registry key to be created is different from the one posted in earlier posts:

64 bit system: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe

32 bit system: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe

After having duly evaluated the various (currently) available alternatives, I concluded that for my specific case the best and the most effective procedure remains the elevated command prompt method described in my post nr. 5.

That method will (obviously) work on any possible text editor, since it physically replaces the native notepad.exe file.

Hope this thread will be useful for somebody else... Just as a reference.

Thanks again

 

[monge]

Notepad Replacer: Replace Notepad the Easy Way! ? Binary Fortress Software

Can't be easier than this.

 

[SIW2]

Looks like you are using a 32 bit notepad replacement on a 64 bit system. That is why the wow node entry.

I use a 64 bit notepad, so it works as described.

Nothing surprising about that.

I have juts tested the procedure originally posted by SIW2 (also described here Notepad2 ? Replacing Windows Notepad) and while that might be supporting Notepad2 and working fine for that specific app, it does not work for other notepad-clones... Or if it does, certain parameters need to be edited in the registry.

64 bit system users (watch out)... The registry key to be created is different from the one posted in earlier posts:

64 bit system: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe

32 bit system: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe

After having duly evaluated the various (currently) available alternatives, I concluded that for my specific case the best and the most effective procedure remains the elevated command prompt method described in my post nr. 5.

That method will (obviously) work on any possible text editor, since it physically replaces the native notepad.exe file.

Hope this thread will be useful for somebody else... Just as a reference.

Thanks again

 

[seedee]

Notepad++ is good, but I vote for Florian's notepad2. I use it all the time. Fortunately, it has an option to replace windows notepad for you automatically.

flo's freeware - Notepad2


Download Notepad2 4.2.25 Setup (x64)

Download Notepad2 4.2.25 Setup (x86)

Win 8x permissions are a complete PITA.

I agree, I have enjoyed this software for some time. The only annoying thing I find is that with Win8.1, Notepad2 fails to open when using the WinKey+R (Run)/Notepad/OK method. It works upon initial installation but soon stops working again. Shame, but perhaps just laziness on my part.