my notepad.exe disappeared?! i need to open a txt file and it's gone. (tried searching for teh file, but found only shortcuts leading to nothing). don't know what happened, but how can i get it back?

There's a difference between the "Notepad app" and notepad.exe. The Notepad app has the AI and all the new stuff in it. But the old C : \windows\system32\notepad.exe still exists, and is unencumbered ...