How to Fix Notepad Opens on Windows Start up [.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787

From few days when I start my computer I was seeing a desktop.ini file in notepad that opens on Windows start up containing the following text in it [.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787. Lets see how do I fix this to stop starting this notepad desktop.ini from windows 8 start-up and this might be work on Windows 7, Windows XP if you are having same problem.


See also: Disable Startup Programs to Load PC Faster

Fix Desktop.ini Runs on Windows Start-up

Desktop.ini file text

Fix [.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787

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notepad-with-windows-startup

I found few suggestions on the internet but it was not working on Windows 8. Following suggested method I tried to open the startup folder on Windows 8 but unable to open it and getting this error “Location is not available”, not accessible and access is denied.

users-folder-is-not-accessible-windows-8-81

Method that I am going to suggest you will work on Windows 8.x, 7, Vista, and XP. So, fast and easy solution to get rid from these start up files is to open the location of the file that open on windows start-up and remove them.

  • First you need to show hidden files in Windows File Explorer,
    Windows 10 : Open File Explorer > File tab > “Change folder and search options”.
    Windows 8: Open File Explorer > View Tab > click “Options button on the toolbar”.
    Windows 7: Click the Organize menu on File Explorer and on XP open “My Computer” and use the Tools menu.
  • Once you open the Folder Options window click the View tab, first Select the “Show hidden files, folders and drives” option and secondly uncheck the “Hide Protected operating system files (Recommended)” option. Click the OK button to save the settings.
    show-hidden-files-windows-8
  • Now go back to the file(s) that open on windows start-up, Click on Notepad File menu and select “Save As…” option this will option the location of the this file.
    file-save-as
  • On the Save As dialog box select “All Files (*.*)” option from the save as type drop-down menu.
    change-save-as-type-to-all-files
  • Doing this will display all the files available in the folder and delete the desktop.ini file or any other notepad files that start on Windows startup.
    delete-desktop-ini-start-up-file

Did you manage to solve this problem on your windows, tell us below in comments.

85 comments… add one
mark March 25, 2014, 6:01 pm

An elegant and quick way to get rid off the problem.
Thank you it works nicely!

Garry March 31, 2017, 1:40 am

Thank you, That method works on win 7, 64 bit, it’s easy when you know how 🙂 Cheers for this blog

san July 2, 2014, 2:18 am

its don’t work on my win7, when i save as , just nothing happen.. please help

TrickyWays July 3, 2014, 5:30 pm

It should display the Save As dialog, which Windows operating system you are using?

bla August 13, 2014, 10:06 pm

works fine.. Windows 7 64-bit

Din August 18, 2014, 5:31 pm

Oh wow.. It was that easy.! :0
Thank you very much! I’m using windows 8

Upul September 5, 2014, 7:27 am

It works nicely. Thank you!

Jayr September 9, 2014, 8:54 am

Thank you so much, I am not a computer guy but was confused on the last part once i “Deleted the file” you do not mention should I “Save” or close window? so i didn’t Save, just “Deleted” . Closed window and restarted and that annoying message never came back. Great stuff thank you.

Olddutch September 13, 2014, 1:44 am

Here is another gratefull user of your trick! Would never found it myself. Moreover: I had to destroy two of those irritating files, which showed up after I restored my win 7 system drive. Where they came from is still an enigma.
Thank you very much.

Eldon October 12, 2014, 10:10 am

Thank you for a relatively simple solution to an annoyance that I was beginning to think I had to live with. Such a bonus to have it gone. Thank you!

Tony edwards October 18, 2014, 2:42 pm

excellent solution
Thanks a lot

Z Dt November 15, 2014, 7:51 pm

yes, thanks alot, windows 7, 32-bit

yusuf November 17, 2014, 1:44 am

great work! I really appreciate.

Anand November 27, 2014, 12:19 am

nice. it works on my windows 8.
thank you

zabee December 11, 2014, 2:32 am

hats off to you

thousif December 17, 2014, 5:57 pm

very easy and nice work.
Thank you

Heri December 19, 2014, 3:23 pm

Saya sudah hapus , setelah saya restart masih muncul juga.. mohon bantuannya..

windows yg saya gunakan 8.1

Ton December 30, 2014, 10:14 pm

AWESOME! THANKS FOR HELP. GOD BLESS

Shannon January 7, 2015, 9:58 pm

Thanks!!!!! The only website to help me with this problem!!!

Pradeep Kumar January 10, 2015, 7:53 pm

Thank you Very much…. my problem is solved so easily…I have tried lot of ways but failed…thanks for your post……

Muhammd Nouman January 18, 2015, 12:39 pm

Yeah this is 100% helpfull may this is one of the quickest method to get rid of this shit

hardik jagga January 20, 2015, 8:15 pm

thanks a lot this worked

Anupiya Alwis January 21, 2015, 7:19 am

Haha..what an easy way to get rid of this mess. Many thanks

Thomas N. Williams January 28, 2015, 3:41 pm

I carefully followed the instructions but realized that at the end of the process where a delete option should have been shown instead a caution of replacing an existing file popped up and I selected the yes for replacement. I don’t know if it worked because I am using a PC that operates windows 8 (TOSHIBA).

dapo February 21, 2015, 6:30 am

Thumbs up!
It works perfectly on my windows 8 PC. Thanks

Kojo April 19, 2015, 3:28 am

it worked windows 7 64bit thank u

Eric Hiku May 3, 2015, 5:09 am

Great stuff worked for me on windows 8.1 other solutions never worked but this one did much appreciated.

franklin Odoyi June 4, 2015, 1:42 pm

100% working……. thanks for relieving me from this task……. God bless

Hadi June 5, 2015, 1:53 pm

Great . Its worked on windows 7 ultimate 32bit

jon June 10, 2015, 10:02 pm

thanks, man ! good job !

kith June 17, 2015, 5:42 am

im using windows 8, I cant easily delete the desktop.ini file because of restrictions so i clicked the right mouse button then properties > security > edit then click on the checkboxes to allow full control and modify.. this solved my problem hope it would help you to

Djcali73 June 27, 2015, 9:27 am

Thanks a mill works good for me Windows 7 64 bits

sushil July 25, 2015, 10:24 pm

hey i m using these steps & i got a extra Desktop.ini with Desktop.txt it is also not delete in my directory please help me……

sushil July 25, 2015, 10:28 pm

hey i am using these steps and got a extra Desktop.txt it is also not deleting please suggest me…help me….

savann August 6, 2015, 2:19 pm

i have tried your method, but it doesn’t work with Windows 10. Any other ways to solve this problem on Windows 10?

Ahmed August 7, 2015, 3:57 am

What happened when you follow the steps, would you please tell me which part of the guide isn’t working on Windows 10?

Appreciated ur works August 8, 2015, 7:23 pm

Thank you, Works perfectly. U will found the file in the desktop when u unhide the system files as told by u. nice work keep it up

Gregg August 13, 2015, 9:45 pm

I also had a similar problem when I upgraded to Windows 10 but my notepad would open to untitled; showing no specific file. It would then have the small box with a similar Access is Denied message as the above but if you closed the error box and tried to save as it would open only the default folder for notepad (windows-system32) with no title of the object it was trying to open originally. I was fairly sure that it was a desktop.ini file somewhere and it didn’t have the rights to open it but I could not track it down. It dawned on me to troubleshoot this by changing the default app for *.ini files from notepad to wordpad to see what would happen. I rebooted and voila, wordpad opened. Not only did it open, it gave me the path of the offending file. I then went to that folder in explorer, gave myself the rights to the file, and then deleted it. Rebooted and all was good. All I had to do then was change my default program for *.ini files back to notepad. I hope this helps someone save all the hours I spent trying to sort this out.

Malcolm August 21, 2015, 5:59 am

Thank you, finally removed the notepad ‘access denied’ on start up with win10 by deleting the desktop.ini file

dean August 24, 2015, 6:57 pm

hi how ya going i cant seam to figure out how to stop note pad opening on star up windows 10 starts up and has nothing in it just pops up aditional window saying access denied ????? so yeh basics for windows 10 to fix this would be good if any one can help cheers

Start up problem with notepad August 28, 2015, 1:56 pm

Start up problem with notepad

Siva September 21, 2015, 8:24 am

It’s working. thank for information

Zul October 15, 2015, 11:46 am

thank you for the help. my problem is solved.

Nanda Aqshal Cendharana December 3, 2015, 11:05 pm

Thanks! It works well with Windows 8 64 bit

Maxime 33 sainthubert November 14, 2023, 9:53 pm

BON Courrage

mark December 7, 2015, 2:30 am

this directive is simplistic and accomplishes the riddance of annoying notepad startup. Thank you for your effort.

Karl Josef December 22, 2015, 11:47 am

The fix work on my Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit.. Thanks 🙂

nayeem basha January 6, 2016, 11:11 pm

Superb… Really simple and great u r. Thanks!

agus March 6, 2016, 1:07 pm

thanks really work have nice day all

dipak kumar March 7, 2016, 7:45 pm

great trick worked with my windows10 OS. THANK YOU SO MUCH

Najamila92 March 26, 2016, 1:16 pm

Nice trick.
It works well with my windows 8.1

ron April 11, 2016, 5:51 pm

Thanks a lot. Very helpful solution. ^_^

smile April 30, 2016, 6:19 pm

Just I Can Say Thank U
Good Luck

hrmlnm May 15, 2016, 11:45 pm

That was wonderful.
Thanks a lot

Mike May 18, 2016, 2:01 am

Was with that Geek Squad for over 2 hrs!!! Went online and solved it in 10 minutes!!! Something is wrong with this scenario. Great Job very well instructed and explained *****

Thierry Bukeni June 5, 2016, 3:21 pm

it work very well without problem.
thanks

Rosn Grng August 7, 2016, 3:36 am

Thank you very much. It worked ….

arun September 6, 2016, 1:29 pm

To resolve your popup issue try this :

* Double Click on My Computer.
* Select Folder Option > View Tab.
* Under the View Tab select Show hidden files and folders.
* And also select Hide protected operation system files.
* Now you will be able to see the hidden destop.ini files.
* Open Windows 7 start orb and at the search type: shell:startup and press Enter.
* Inside the startup folder deleted the desktop.ini file

Now restart your computer. It will not appear again

Hirshan madusanka February 1, 2017, 11:02 pm

I can’t manage it in my windows 10.

TrickyWays February 2, 2017, 6:43 pm

What happened would you please tell me why you are not managed to follow this guide to fix notepad auto load problem.

Binita June 10, 2017, 12:17 pm

Thank you…..it works.

Luke July 15, 2017, 1:29 pm

Worked on win8 64 bit thanks

Mudathir Olaniyi Adewale September 28, 2017, 12:54 am

I just ran into this problem today and thanks for this guide I was able to fix it

Rittisak October 20, 2017, 8:08 pm

Thanks a lot. It’s work for me ^_^

Adrian January 15, 2018, 9:56 am

all right thanks me it was useful

R John February 27, 2018, 12:26 pm

Thanks it worked on a 64-bit windows 7 Dell Laptop.

Peter Lucas March 3, 2018, 3:03 pm

Thanks for this info, worked a treat and very easy to fix.

Alone April 6, 2018, 8:29 am

Thanks works perfectly

Bro May 28, 2018, 6:14 am

Effective in the first notepad, but the second notepad says “File Access Denied”

64 bit_windows 8.1

TrickyWays June 4, 2018, 8:01 pm

What do you mean by the “second notepad says File Access denied”? Please tell me a little bit more about this.

Sis July 8, 2018, 5:58 pm

Thank you so much! Works like a charm. I’m using Windows 10.

vince August 20, 2018, 10:10 am

nice its very clear instruction, and it works… Nice Job TricksyWays 🙂

Kelvin September 16, 2018, 3:18 pm

it worked…thanks

Biula March 18, 2019, 3:58 pm

It worked perfectly…clean, quick and easy! Thanks a lot…

ATK April 3, 2019, 2:04 am

Worked for me!(Windows10).Thanks a lot!

Lee April 17, 2019, 7:51 pm

Thanks so much! helped a lot.

Zack April 30, 2019, 6:39 am

Thank you so much! It really solved the problem.The steps are easy to understand and I can do it straight away by following them 🙂

TrickyWays May 2, 2019, 9:00 pm

Great, we try out best to make the guide easy for everyone to understand and perform steps. This is really annoying to see notepad on windows startup and Glad to hear that you fixed the notepad opening problem on your Windows.

Margot February 6, 2020, 2:15 pm

Beautiful way to deal with this ! All fixed !

Gin August 23, 2021, 11:55 pm

windows 10 64bit worked like a charm!!! thank you !!

TrickyWays August 31, 2021, 3:25 am

Great to hear you successfully fixed the notepad on the start-up problem. If you have any other questions please follow us on Facebook and leave a message, Thanks.

Somzy January 11, 2022, 5:28 pm

Your trick worked perfectly, well done job
Thanks.

jcp35 May 19, 2022, 1:45 am

Merci, tuto qui fonctionne très bien aussi sous Windows 11.
Enfin je n’ai plus ce fichier au démarrage.
IMPECABLE.

TrickyWays May 25, 2022, 1:20 am

Good to hear that you are not getting this startup message, enjoy.

martin January 14, 2023, 4:41 pm

It worked for me on win10. It was bothering me so long I decided to google this out yet again.

Interestingly enough I did see other articles saying delete desktop.ini but it had to be a wrong one, not one in startup.

Anyway, thanks!

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