Cannot View Source in Internet Explorer

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View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q154168

SYMPTOMS

When you click the View Source command in Internet Explorer (on the View menu, click Source), the source for the current page is not displayed, and there is no error message.

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CAUSE

This behavior may occur if Notepad is not installed. The View Source command uses Notepad.exe to display a source file.

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RESOLUTION

Extract or expand the Notepad.exe file from your original Windows disks or CD-ROM to the Windows folder.

The Notepad.exe file is located on:

 Windows version               Media                          Location
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Windows 3.1                   3.5-inch and 5.25-inch disks   disk 3
 Windows 3.11                  3.5-inch disk                  disk 4
 Windows 3.11                  5.25-inch disk                 disk 5
 Windows for Workgroups 3.11   3.5-inch disk                  disk 6
 Windows for Workgroups 3.11   5.25-inch disk                 disk 5
 Windows 95                    3.5-inch disk                  disk 3
 Windows 95                    CD-ROM                         Win95_02.cab

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Expanding or Extracting the Notepad.exe File

Use the method appropriate for your operating system.

Windows 3.1 and 3.11 or Windows for Workgroups:

At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following line
cd \<windows>
where <windows> is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed.
Insert the appropriate disk in the floppy drive.
Type the following line
expand <source>:\notepad.ex_ notepad.exe
where <source> is the drive letter of the floppy disk drive containing the Windows disk.

Windows 95:

Use the method appropriate for the media on which you have Windows 95.

Extracting Notepad.exe from the Windows 95 CD-ROM:

Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.
Type cd\, and then press ENTER.
Insert the Windows 95 CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then close the Windows 95 screen if it appears.
Type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER
extract /a <drive>:\win95\win95_02.cab notepad.exe /l c:\<windows>
where <drive> is the drive letter assigned to your CD-ROM drive, and where <windows> is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed.
Type exit, and then press ENTER to return to windows.

Extracting Notepad.exe from the Windows 95 Floppy Disks:

Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.
Type cd\, and then press ENTER.
Insert disk 3 of the Windows 95 disks into the floppy disk drive.
Type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER
extract /a <drive>:\Win95_03.cab notepad.exe /l c:\<windows>
where <drive> is the drive letter assigned to the floppy disk drive the Windows 95 floppy disk is located in, and where <windows> is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed.
Type exit, and then press ENTER to return to windows.

For more information about using the Extract tool, click the Start button, point to Programs, click MS-DOS prompt, type extract, and then press ENTER. Or, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

129605 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/129605/EN-US/ ) How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

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MORE INFORMATION

Note that the behavior described in this article may also occur if you are using Novell NetWare and the NetWare drive mappings overwrite the path. When this occurs, you may receive no error message, or you may receive an error message similar to:

Cannot find the C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Cache3\<file>.htm file. Do you want to create a new one?

Clicking OK opens a blank instance of Notepad.

To work around this behavior, copy the Notepad.exe file to the folder containing Internet Explorer.

NetWare is manufactured by Novell, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Internet Explorer 1.0
Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.02
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 128-Bit Edition
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 128-Bit Edition
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.2
Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.01
Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.1
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.1
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 128-Bit Edition

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KB154168

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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