-=PCTechTalk=- notepad & actmovie.exe - help needed

Hello, 
Something took over my Notepad today. When I try to open it from either the 
shortcut icon on my task bar or from my program list, nothing happens. If I 
right-click on it (either the task bar icon or from the program list) it shows 
me that the target has been changed to "actmovie.exe" and that the "start in" 
location is "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH". 

In looking for help on this, I found a post in a forum referring to the same 
problem.

http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/102272.html

One response says to change the target to "C\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\NOTEPAD.EXE.". 
I tried that and got an error message that that is an invalid target/file.

So I searched some more and found that this actmovie.exe is either part of a 
virus/worm

http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/i/i-worm_magistr.asp

or it's a legit part of XP: 

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=101731&seqNum=2 
("ACTMOVIE.EXE (DirectShow Setup Tool). Part of the the DirectX series of 
tools. Used for media capture and playback.")

In the my properties box on the general tab, it shows "DirectShow Setup Tool" 
as the description. Does that mean that this is a legit program that somehow 
took over my Notepad? If so, how do I find where my real Notepad program is and 
switch it back, and if actmovie.exe is actually a virus/worm, how do I gt rid 
of it and also get Notepad back?

Here are two screenshots of my properties box so you can see what I'm seeing:

http://www.colliope.com/screenshots/notepad.jpg
screenshot of Notepad Properties box - shortcut tab

http://www.colliope.com/screenshots/notepad2.jpg
screenshot of Notepad properties box - general tab

Thankyou for any help. I didn't realize how much I rely on Notepad as a 
clipboard until now and I really miss it. 

Col
(Using WinXP)




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