Comments on: Replacing Notepad in Windows Vista

By: Jedi1973

Jedi1973 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:09:09 +0000

Very Nice!
And Props to Dylan for adding the SYSWOW folder (first post).

By: selyb

selyb — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:27:20 +0000

Replace a System Program without Modifying System Files or Permissions

uses ‘Image File Execution Options’ registry key

Full tutorial and sample scripts here

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/244527-programs-replace-system-program-without-modifying-system-files-permissions.html

By: Yo

Yo — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:46:31 +0000

On Windows 7 the replacement by mentioned scripts work, as long as the .bat or .cmd file is ran as Administrator.

I also had to copy Notepad2.ini to C:\Windows folder and grand full permission to my userID to assure Setting changes of Notepad2 settings get saved.

By: Ralin

Ralin — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:00:41 +0000

To replace the files in Windows 7, take ownership of the notepad.exe-file in SysWOW64 and System32, then add write/modify-permissions to Administrators and simply copy it over.
I ran explorer.exe as administrator too, so if above doesn’t work run explorer.exe as administrator.

By: Pieter

Pieter — Sat, 02 May 2009 12:58:32 +0000

Doesn’t seem to work on windows 7 (there is a “TrustedUser” who seems to have all the rights)

By: Mehtuus

Mehtuus — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:21:18 +0000

Thanks Chris! The commands worked perfectly once I found out that UAC had to be disabled and the system rebooted first. Below is an updated version of the batch file that I successfully used on my Vista x64 Ultimate install:
=================================================================

rem START BATCH COMMANDS
rem USER ACCOUNT CONTROL (UAC) MUST BE TURNED OFF AND SYSTEM REBOOTED **FIRST** BEFORE THIS WILL WORK!
rem If you are using VISTA x32 version, then close this window BEFORE continuing and edit this file by putting “rem ” in front of every line that contains the text “syswow64″. Then run this file again.
@echo off
PAUSE

takeown /f c:\windows\syswow64\notepad.exe
cacls c:\windows\syswow64\notepad.exe /G Administrators:F

takeown /f c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe
cacls c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe /G Administrators:F

takeown /f c:\windows\notepad.exe
cacls c:\windows\notepad.exe /G Administrators:F

copy c:\windows\syswow64\notepad.exe c:\windows\syswow64\notepad.exe.backup
copy c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe.backup
copy c:\windows\notepad.exe c:\windows\notepad.exe.backup

copy notepad2.exe c:\windows\syswow64\notepad.exe
copy notepad2.exe c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe
copy notepad2.exe c:\windows\notepad.exe
@echo on
rem END BATCH COMMANDS

By: webdesign heilbronn

webdesign heilbronn — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:55:48 +0000

Thanks a lot Matt, it works perfectly.

Greatz

Steve

By: brian

brian — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:53:06 +0000

Thanks darco, works perfectly! :)

By: darco

darco — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:30:18 +0000

chris colden has it exactly right. to specify, his method worked for me in vista ultimate sp1 x86

in the folder you extracted notepad2.exe to… make a new text file and rename it replace.bat … open this text file with notepad and put in the following text:

takeown /f c:\windows\notepad.exe
cacls c:\windows\notepad.exe /G Administrators:F
takeown /f c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe
cacls c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe /G Administrators:F

COPY c:\windows\notepad.exe c:\windows\notepad.exe.bak
COPY c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe.bak

COPY Notepad2.exe c:\windows\notepad.exe
COPY Notepad2.exe c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe

… then save, close the window, and run the file. it will prompt you to replace, so youll press “y” twice. thanks again chris

By: nopa

nopa — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:38:11 +0000

Thanks for the workaround! Now there’s gotta be one for Wordpad ;)