How to Replace Notepad on Windows?

How to Replace Notepad on Windows 8 and Windows 10

Windows 8 and Windows 10 protect system files the same way previous versions did. To work your way around this protection, try to follow these steps to replace notepad.exe with TED Notepad:

0. Unblocking:

• After downloading, the downloaded file might be marked as unsafe simply because it was downloaded from the Internet. Always use an Antivirus software to ensure you have downloaded a safe version of TED Notepad.
• Right-click on the downloaded TedNPad.exe file and click on Properties.
• There is a message telling you that the file might be unsafe and why. Read that message.
• If there is no such message, then the file was not marked as unsafe.
• Then click Unblock to get rid of this message and the block.
• Now the system recognizes the file as safe to be used.

1. Locations

• Log-in as administrator. Other users might not have sufficient rights to perform the replacing.
  • Note: It is often sufficient to be part of the Administrators group.
• Locate the old notepad in these locations: c:\Windows, c:\Windows\System32, c:\Windows\SysWOW64.
• Following steps must be performed at all these locations (especially System32 and SysWOW64).

2. Ownership

• Follow these steps for all three locations.
• Right-click on the notepad.exe.
• Click Properties on the right-click menu.
• In the dialog, select Security tab.
• Click the Advanced button at the bottom.
• In that Advanced Security Settings dialog, click on Owner tab. Update: On Windows 10 there is no such tab, Owner is conveniently located at the top of the dialog.
• Here you should be able to see the Current owner (i.e. Trusted Installer).
• To take ownership of the object, click Edit. Give permission at the User Account Control elevation screen if required.
• In the Change owner to box, select a user to whom you want to assign the new ownership.
  • Note: Select the Administrators group for simplicity and retained safety.
• Apply your settings by closing all dialogs with the OK button.
• Back in Advanced Security Settings dialog, you should now see the current owner has changed.
• Close the Advanced Security Settings dialog with the OK button.
• Close the Properties dialog with the OK button.
• Now you have changed the owner of the notepad.exe file.

3. Permissions

• Follow these steps for all three locations after taking Ownership.
• Right-click on the notepad.exe.
• Select Properties.
• In the dialog, select Security tab.
• To change permissions, click Edit. Give permission at the User Account Control elevation screen if required.
• In the Group or user names list, select the Administrators group.
  • If the group isn't listed there, click on Add button, and type the desired group name in at the Enter object names to select box. Confirm by OK. Now select the group.
• In the Permissions for Administrators list below, check the Full control checkbox under the Allow column.
• Apply new permissions by closing all dialogs with the OK buttons.
• Now you have changed permissions to the notepad.exe file.

4. Prepare for replacing

• Create backup copy of C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe at some private location.
• Prepare a new notepad.exe file by renaming the TedNPad.exe to notepad.exe.
• Note: You will be replacing the old notepad.exe with this new file.
• Copy the new notepad.exe file into the clipboard using Ctrl+C.
• Note: now you should have a file named notepad.exe in the clipboard and it should be TED Notepad.

5. Replacing the files:

• Open folder C:\WINDOWS\System32 in Windows Explorer.
• Press Ctrl-V then Backspace. Press Ctrl-V again.
• Note: You may need to do the above step rather quickly on some systems.
• Now you have replaced the notepad in two locations.
• Navigate to c:\Windows\SysWOW64. Press Ctrl-V again.
• Now you have replaced the notepad in third location.

How to Replace Notepad on Windows 7

Windows 7 protects system files rather well. To work your way around this protection, try to follow these steps to replace notepad.exe with TED Notepad:

0. Unblocking:

• After downloading, the downloaded file might be marked as unsafe simply because it was downloaded from the Internet.
• Right-click on the downloaded TedNPad.exe file and click on Properties.
• There is a message telling you that the file might be unsafe and why. Read that message.
• If there is no such message, then the file was not marked as unsafe.
• Then click Unblock to get rid of this message and the block.
• Now the system recognizes the file as safe to be used.

1. Locations

• Log-in as administrator. Other users might not have sufficient rights to perform the replacing.
  • Note: It is often sufficient to be part of the Administrators group.
• Locate the old notepad in two locations: C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS\System32.
• Following steps should (or even must) be performed on both these locations.

2. Ownership

• Follow these steps for both locations.
• Right-click on the notepad.exe.
• Click Properties on the right-click menu.
• In the dialog, select Security tab.
• Click the Advanced button at the bottom.
• In that Advanced Security Settings dialog, click on Owner tab.
• Here you should be able to see the Current owner (i.e. Trusted Installer).
• To take ownership of the object, click Edit. Give permission at the User Account Control elevation screen if required.
• In the Change owner to box, select a user to whom you want to assign the new ownership.
  • Note: Select the Administrators group for simplicity and retained safety.
• Apply your settings by closing all dialogs with the OK button.
• Back in Advanced Security Settings dialog, you should now see the current owner has changed.
• Close the Advanced Security Settings dialog with the OK button.
• Close the Properties dialog with the OK button.
• Now you have changed the owner of the notepad.exe file.

3. Permissions

• Follow these steps for both locations after taking Ownership.
• Right-click on the notepad.exe.
• Select Properties.
• In the dialog, select Security tab.
• To change permissions, click Edit. Give permission at the User Account Control elevation screen if required.
• In the Group or user names list, select the Administrators group.
  • If the group isn't listed there, click on Add button, and type the desired group name in at the Enter object names to select box. Confirm by OK. Now select the group.
• In the Permissions for Administrators list below, check the Full control checkbox under the Allow column.
• Apply new permissions by closing all dialogs with the OK buttons.
• Now you have changed permissions to the notepad.exe file.

4. Prepare for replacing

• Create backup copy of C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe at some private location.
• Prepare a new notepad.exe file by renaming the TedNPad.exe to notepad.exe.
• Note: You will be replacing the old notepad.exe with this new file.
• Copy the new notepad.exe file into the clipboard using Ctrl+C.
• Note: now you should have a file named notepad.exe in the clipboard and it should be TED Notepad.

5. Replacing the files:

• Open folder C:\WINDOWS\System32 in Windows Explorer.
• Press Ctrl-V then Backspace. Press Ctrl-V again.
• Note: You may need to do the above step rather quickly on some systems.
• Now you have replaced the notepad in both locations.

How to Replace Notepad on Windows Vista

Windows Vista protects system files from users by default. To work around this protection, follow these steps to replace notepad.exe with TED Notepad:

0. Unblocking:

• After downloading, the downloaded file might be marked as unsafe simply because it was downloaded from the Internet.
• Right-click on the downloaded TedNPad.exe file and click on Properties.
• There is a message telling you that the file might be unsafe and why. Read that message.
• If there is no such message, then the file was not marked as unsafe.
• Then click Unblock to get rid of this message and the block.
• Now the system recognizes the file as safe to be used.

1. Locations

• Log-in as administrator. Other users might not have sufficient rights to perform the replacing.
• Locate the old notepad in two locations: C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS\System32.
• All following steps must be performed on both these locations.

2. Ownership

• Follow these steps for both locations.
• Right-click on the notepad.exe.
• Select Properties.
• In the dialog, select Security tab.
• Click on Advanced.
• In the dialog, select Owner tab.
• Click Edit and select the Administrators group in the Change owner list.
• Apply your settings by closing all dialogs with the OK button.
• Now you have changed the owner of the notepad.exe file.

3. Permissions

• Follow these steps for both locations.
• Right-click on the notepad.exe.
• Select Properties.
• In the dialog, select Security tab.
• Click Edit and select the Administrators group in the Group or user names list.
• Check the Full control checkbox in the Permissions for Administrators list.
• Apply your settings by closing all dialogs with the OK button.
• Now you have changed your permissions to the notepad.exe file.

4. Prepare for replacing

• Create backup copy of C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe
• Prepare new notepad.exe file by renaming the TedNPad.exe to notepad.exe.
• Note: You will be replacing the old notepad.exe with this new file.
• Copy the new notepad.exe file into the clipboard using Ctrl+C.

5. Replacing in system:

• Open folder C:\WINDOWS\System32 in Windows Explorer.
• Press Ctrl-V then Backspace. Press Ctrl-V again.
• Now you have replaced the notepad in both locations.

How to Replace Notepad on Windows XP SP2

WinXP SP2 uses protection of system files, among witch notepad.exe is included. To fool around this protection, follow these steps to replace notepad.exe with TED Notepad:

0. Unblocking:

• After downloading, the downloaded file might be marked as unsafe simply because it was downloaded from the Internet.
• Right-click on the downloaded TedNPad.exe file and click on Properties.
• There is a message telling you that the file might be unsafe and why. Read that message.
• If there is no such message, then the file was not marked as unsafe.
• Then click Unblock to get rid of this message and the block.
• Now the system recognizes the file as safe to be used.

1. Preparations:

• First, create backup copy of C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe
• Change settings in windows Explorer to show hidden and system files.
• Prepare new notepad.exe file by renaming the TedNPad.exe to notepad.exe.
• Note: You will be replacing the old notepad.exe with this new file.
• Copy the new notepad.exe file into the clipboard using Ctrl+C.

2. Replacing in backup:

• Open folder C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386 in Windows Explorer.
• Press Ctrl-V to replace the system backup version of notepad.

3. Replacing in system:

• Open folder C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache in Windows Explorer.
• Press Ctrl-V then Backspace.
• Press Ctrl-V then Backspace.
• Press Ctrl-V.
• Note: The three steps above must be performed quickly. There is a delay in reaction of system to your replacing. During this delay (which is a few seconds), you need to manage to hit the entire Ctrl-V, Backspace, Ctrl-V, Backspace, Ctrl-V ritual.

4. After-math:

• If you manage to replace your notepad correctly, the system will show a dialog with "Insert Windows XP Installation CD". Read the dialog and choose cancel to keep your new version of the notepad. Otherwise, notepad would be reverted to the original version.

Automatize Notepad replacing on Windows XP SP2

WinXP SP2 uses protection of system files, among witch notepad.exe is included. To fool around this protection, follow these steps to replace notepad.exe with TED Notepad:

0. Unblocking:

• After downloading, the downloaded file might be marked as unsafe simply because it was downloaded from the Internet.
• Right-click on the downloaded TedNPad.exe file and click on Properties.
• There is a message telling you that the file might be unsafe and why. Read that message.
• If there is no such message, then the file was not marked as unsafe.
• Then click Unblock to get rid of this message and the block.
• Now the system recognizes the file as safe to be used.

1. Creating batch file

• Create a new batch file named replnpad.cmd.
• In order to do this, you might need to disable the Hide file extensions system setting.
• If you have trouble with creating such file, download it here.
• Note: After downloading, this file might be marked as unsafe (see above).
• Edit this replnpad.cmd file and place the following contents there:

  REM Backup the old notepad.
  copy C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe C:\WINDOWS\notepad.old
  
  REM Replace the old notepad with TedNPad.exe in all known locations.
  copy TedNPad.exe C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe
  copy TedNPad.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\notepad.exe
  copy TedNPad.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache\notepad.exe
  copy TedNPad.exe C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\notepad.exe
  

• Save the file and exit the editor.

2. Preparing

• Make sure the TedNPad.exe file is located in the same directory as the replnpad.cmd.
• Execute the replnpad.cmd. This will automatically backup the old notepad and replace it.

3. After-math:

• If you manage to replace your notepad correctly, the system will show a dialog with "Insert Windows XP Installation CD". Read the dialog and choose cancel to keep your new version of the notepad. Otherwise, notepad would be reverted to the original version.