Notepad file now appears as a useless <.exe> file

[Knack]

WinXP Pro (SP2)

Created a detailed account of my observations in a Notepad file. Had opened
it and edited it several times. But now Windows Explorer shows it as an
executable. Have no idea how that happened, because none of my other <.txt>
files are affected.

Double-left clicking on its icon opens a blank command line window.

Right-clicking on its icon does not result in a menu that includes a choice
for Open With.

Changing the file name by adding <.txt> at the end makes no difference in
operation.

Any suggestions as to how I can recover the data from this corrupted file?

 

[Jim]

You might want to check to see if you have file extensions hidden on
that machine. If they are, it doesn't matter if you put the .txt on
the file, because there's still a .exe on the end that you can't see.

In any Explorer window, go to Tools>Folder Options>View tab>uncheck
Hide File Extensions for Known File Types