Adding WordPad to the right-click file

Here are the steps:

1. Use the Start menu’s Run option to launch Regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*. (This should be the very first subtree.)
3. A key called "shellex" should already be here. Add a new key called "Shell" at the same tree level as "shellex."
4. Under the "Shell" key, create another key called "WordPad."
5. Create another key under the "WordPad" key called "Command."
6. You'll see a string value named Default when you highlight the "Command" key. Double-click Default and enter "C:\Program Files\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE %1". (Note: Don’t enter the quotes, and make sure to use the appropriate path to the file wordpad.exe.) Click OK.
7. Exit Regedit and test it out.

Adding Notepad to the right-click menu for every file

If the file is too big for Notepad, you will get a prompt to open the file in WordPad instead. Here are the steps:

1. Use the Start menu’s Run option to launch Regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*. (This should be the very first subtree.)
3. A key called "shellex" should already be here. Add a new key called "Shell" at the same tree level as "shellex."
4. Under the "Shell" key, create another key called "Notepad."
5. Create another key under the "Notepad" key called "Command."
6. You'll see a string value named Default when you highlight the "Command" key. Double-click Default and enter "NOTEPAD %1" (without the quotation marks). Click OK.
7. Exit Regedit and test it out.

Note: The full path to the correct Registry key is:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell\Notepad\Command