Turning off DDE -- Safe?

[moderndance]

Hi All,

First post here from very happy/proud used of TP.

What are the risks of turning off DDE for Textpad file associations? In my case, I am using Textpad primarily to open and edit .txt files, and want every opened file (via double-clicking) to open in a new window. With DDE turned on, all instances open in the same window, no matter what, so I've turned off DDE to allow multiple windows.

I don't know much about DDE, though, and don't know what the risks are. In my case, the files I'm editing are readmes and typically open only in textpad--i.e. I don't think they're being accesed by other applications. If they are, though, what are the risks of running textpad without DDE?

Thanks much in advance,

M


-- FOLLOW-UP --

Interestingly, after turning off DDE in the .txt file association, and everything working as planned--i.e. files opening in their own windows-- I checked the file associations again and DDE is turned back on ("Use DDE" checked; note: the -m is there to force multiple instances). A %1 string which I removed has also been re-appended.

So:

before:"C:\Program Files\TextPad 5\TextPad.exe" -s %1 (with DDE on)
I changed to: "C:\Program Files\TextPad 5\TextPad.exe" -m (with DDE off)
after:"C:\Program Files\TextPad 5\TextPad.exe" -m %1 (with DDE on)

So, additional questions would be (1) what is happening here, (2) what this "Use DDE" means, and (3) if DDE is running anyway.

Thanks much,

M

[Drxenos]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... S.85).aspx