# Strange IE behavior **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505 "2004-04-22T20:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/1 "2004-04-22T20:49:17Z")
When I’m using IE 6.0 on my computer at work and I click on “View/Source” I expect to see the HTML of the page I’m looking at. Instead, the computer opens up Hex Workshop (a hex editor program installed on my system) and shows me the contents of NOTEPAD.EXE in hex code. Same behavior no matter what web page I’m on. Two of my colleagues, whose computers are configured identically to mine, also have the same symptoms. Netscape works fine. Does anybody know what settings I need to change to set this back to normal? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/2 "2004-04-22T21:52:03Z")
On your computer, the html extension is associated with Hex Workshop, not Notepad. You need to associate the extension with Notepad. Read about it here … [http://filext.com/faq/article.php?id=004](http://filext.com/faq/article.php?id=004) ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/3 "2004-04-22T22:29:14Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > On your computer, the html extension is associated with Hex Workshop, not Notepad. You need to associate the extension with Notepad. Read about it here … [http://filext.com/faq/article.php?id=004](http://filext.com/faq/article.php?id=004) No, actually the html extension is associated with Netscape, which is the default browser. If I double-click on an html file, it opens in Netscape. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/4 "2004-04-23T17:17:18Z")
Download and install [this](http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe) little utility. Go to **Internet Explorer -\>View source-\>Change Program** , change the source editor to Notepad.exe. That should solve the problem. If it doesn’t, get back to us. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/5 "2004-04-23T18:44:35Z")
> [@peter morris](#): > > Download and install [this](http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe) little utility. Go to **Internet Explorer -\>View source-\>Change Program** , change the source editor to Notepad.exe. That should solve the problem. If it doesn’t, get back to us. Darn it, you really had my hopes up there for a minute. When I tried to run the install it politely informed me that it would only work for Windows XP. Unfortunately, I have Windows 2000. Thanks for trying. Sounds like this is on the right track. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/6 "2004-04-23T19:34:20Z")
There is a [version](http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/powertoys/networking/nttweakui.asp?SD=GN&LN=EN-US&gssnb=1) of TweakUI that will work on 2000, but it does not have that particular feature. Have you tried going to **Start|Settings|Control Panel|Internet Options** , clicking the **Programs** tab, and selecting Notepad for **HTML editor**? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/7 "2004-04-23T19:38:43Z")
> [@Number](#): > > There is a [version](http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/powertoys/networking/nttweakui.asp?SD=GN&LN=EN-US&gssnb=1) of TweakUI that will work on 2000, but it does not have that particular feature. > > Have you tried going to **Start|Settings|Control Panel|Internet Options** , clicking the **Programs** tab, and selecting Notepad for **HTML editor**? Yup, that was the first thing I tried. No matter what I set there it makes no difference. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/8 "2004-04-23T19:39:09Z")
[Try this](http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/AddNewIE5edit.vbs) its less user-friendly, I don’t know if it’ll work in Win2000, but it might. Right click, select **Open With Command Prompt** You have to type in the path to notepad manually. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/9 "2004-04-23T20:20:15Z")
Thank you **peter morris**. That one worked beautifully. I sure wish I knew how it got screwed up in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-ie-behavior/241505/10 "2004-04-23T21:42:36Z")
Possibly some adware, a trojan, or a virus. Or maybe the registry got corrupted, just by accident without malicious intent. Are you running spybot, a registry tool, and anti-virus?