Configure Windows XP’s MS-DOS Editor

Windows XP comes with another text editor besides Notepad — it’s called the MS-DOS Editor, and it’s commonly referred to simply as Edit. It has features similar to Notepad, as well as additional features such as the ability to work with multiple text files and change the background and text colors. Since Edit is a DOS-based application, you can easily configure it to work just like a Windows application. Here’s how:

1. Use Windows Explorer to locate the Edit.com file in the \Windows\System32 folder.

2. Right-click the file, drag it to your desktop, and select the Create Shortcut(s) Here command from the Shortcut menu.

3. Right-click the Shortcut icon and select the Properties command from the Shortcut menu.

4. Choose the Program tab and select the Close On Exit check box.

5. Click OK to finish.

Now you can double-click the Shortcut icon to launch Edit. When you’re done using it, you can close it by clicking the Close button in the upper-right corner or by using the Exit command on the File menu.

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.