Here's a little
Notepad++ launcher which allows you to replace Notepad completely by Notepad++.
Installation Instruction:
Backup your original Notepad.exe (we never know...).
Copy
notepad.exe which comes with this package into 4 directories (
in given order) :
[list type=decimal]
[*]
c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386
[*]
c:\windows\system32\dllcache
[*]
c:\windows\system32
[*]
c:\windows
[/list]
When you replace
notepad.exe in c:\windows\system32 and c:\windows, a "Windows File Protection" message box appears, click Cancel. Then another message box appears, click OK.
Modify you registry (if you use installer to install your Notepad++, you don't need to do this step): Create key
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Notepad++, then add your Notepad++ full path as the default value of this key. In my case, it's
C:\Program Files\Notepad++.
Now Notepad++ is your default Notepad.
I make a point of thanking Stépho for his contribution. The source code is available
here.