{"id":1907,"date":"2021-04-14T18:12:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T23:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/montgomeryminds.com\/blog\/?p=1907"},"modified":"2021-04-14T18:14:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T23:14:03","slug":"you-cant-just-copy-notepade-exe-and-run-it-in-windows-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montgomeryminds.com\/blog\/you-cant-just-copy-notepade-exe-and-run-it-in-windows-10\/","title":{"rendered":"You can’t just copy notepade.exe and run it in Windows 10"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You might think you can just copy notepad.exe<\/code> and run it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS C:\\tmp> copy C:\\windows\\notepad.exe c:\\tmp\nPS C:\\tmp> dir c:\\tmp *\n\nDirectory: C:\\tmp\n\nMode    LastWriteTime       Length  Name\n\u2014a\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014    2\/20\/2021 11:35 PM  181248  notepad.exe\n\nPS C:\\tmp> .\\notepad.exe\nPS C:\\tmp> # Nothing happens...\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
But nothing happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What’s wrong? This is a simple operation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answer: You need the .\\en-US\\notepad.exe.mui<\/code> file<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Or, more generally the .\\xx-YY\\notepad.exe.mui<\/code> file, for any local “xx-YY”, for any similar built-in Microsoft\u2122 program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For notepad.exe<\/code> you can find this file in  c:\\windows\\xx-YY\\notepad.exe.mui<\/code> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS C:\\tmp> mkdir en-US\n\n\n    Directory: C:\\tmp\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name\n----                -------------         ------ ----\nd-----         4\/2\/2021  11:26 AM                en-US\n\n\nPS C:\\tmp> copy C:\\Windows\\notepad.exe .\\\nPS C:\\tmp> copy C:\\Windows\\en-us\\notepad.exe.mui .\\en-US\\\nPS C:\\tmp> dir\n\n\n    Directory: C:\\tmp\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name\n----                -------------         ------ ----\nd-----         4\/2\/2021  11:27 AM                en-US\n-a----        2\/20\/2021  11:35 PM         181248 notepad.exe\n\n\nPS C:\\tmp> dir .\\en-US\\\n\n\n    Directory: C:\\tmp\\en-US\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name\n----                -------------         ------ ----\n-a----        3\/19\/2019   2:18 AM          12288 notepad.exe.mui\n\n\nPS C:\\tmp> .\\notepad.exe\nPS C:\\tmp> # it works!\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Other Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Not all exe<\/code> files have the problem. Here are some other famous exe’s that do, however. They’re in C:\\Windows\\System32<\/code> (not C:\\Windows\\<\/code> like notepad.exe<\/code>):\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Directory: c:\\tmp\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                        \n----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                        \nd-----         4\/2\/2021   4:21 PM                en-US                                                                       \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM          34816 ipconfig.exe                                                                \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM          21504 ping.exe                                                                    \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM          17920 tracert.exe                                                                 \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM         369152 msinfo32.exe                                                                \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
And here are their associated .mui files:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Directory: c:\\tmp\\en-US\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                        \n----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                        \n-a----        3\/19\/2019   2:17 AM          28160 ipconfig.exe.mui                                                            \n-a----        3\/19\/2019   2:17 AM          11264 ping.exe.mui                                                                \n-a----        3\/19\/2019   2:17 AM           6656 tracert.exe.mui                                                             \n-a----        3\/19\/2019   2:17 AM          30720 msinfo32.exe.mui                                                            \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Most programs do not have a en-US<\/code>\\*.mui file in the first place. Here’s a few that do, but run fine when you copy them nevertheless:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
   Directory: c:\\tmp\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                        \n----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                        \nd-----        4\/14\/2021   4:55 PM                en-US-not_needed                                                            \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM          14336 HOSTNAME.EXE                                                                \n-a----        2\/20\/2021  11:33 PM         280064 cmd.EXE                                                                     \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:44 AM          86528 nslookup.exe                                                                \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:43 AM          40448 Netplwiz.exe                                                                \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM          40960 where.exe                                                                   \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM          71168 whoami.exe                                                                  \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
tasklist.exe<\/code> is interesting. It partially works when copied. It works without its .mui<\/code> file, but only if you provide no parameters. If you want to provide parameters, you need the copied .mui<\/code> file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Directory: c:\\tmp\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                        \n----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                        \nd-----        4\/14\/2021   6:33 PM                en-us                                                                       \n-a----        3\/19\/2019  12:45 AM         101376 tasklist.exe                                                                \n\n\n    Directory: c:\\tmp\\en-us\n\n\nMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                        \n----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                        \n-a----        3\/19\/2019   2:17 AM          15872 tasklist.exe.mui                                                            \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
An oddball is mspaint.exe<\/code><\/strong><\/span>. It has a .mui<\/code> but copying it still<\/i> doesnt work. It may be interacting with the Windows 10 “App” interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
References:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n