new text document is gone...
 

when i right-click and go to the "new" menu, the "new text document" is gone. how do i get it back?

I think if you open it up through the Start Menu, the option will reappear. That worked for me recently with wordpad anyway...

If mortis' suggestion doesn't work out, try downloading the TXT file extension fix here: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

Download and run TweakUI. Under Templates section, make sure "Text Document" is checked. If text document isn't there, create one.

thanks guys! it's fixed now.