ShellExecute failed (2) error for Notepad++

Go into your registry as an administrator and search for notepad++.exe. Find the key underHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT that has an entry with the Edit with Notepad++ and delete the whole key. Right click and you should see that you no longer have that option.

Now we re-create it:

1. Go to:

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell
   

2. Create a new key under shell called OpenWithNotepad and create a subkey under that calledcommand.

3. In the OpenWithNotepad key the default string is what you want the context menu item to be called. I set it to Open with Notepad++.

4. Create a new string value called icon and set the value to be the full path to notepad++.exe.

5. Under the command key edit the default string value and change it to "path-to-notepad++.exe" "%1" where path-to-notepad++.exe should be the full path, e.g.

   C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe.