> I tried replacing notepad.exe with metapad, and found out that this
> win2000 system defends itself against such attempts, it just restores
> the real notepad.exe.
W2K (and I think XP also) keeps back ups of important system files in
<C:WINNTsystem32dllcache> , from which it automatically replaces a
removed or tampered with system file. Remove Notepad.exe from that
folder first. Only Gates knows why that crappy editor is considered an
important system file.