Right click on it, select 'open with', and select notepad from the list. If it is indeed a text file, notepad will open it okay. If Notepad doesn't complain, check the box to use Notepad to open files with that extension in the future.
What I do instead of that, is put a copy of or a shortcut to Vern Buerg's "list.com" in the directory |Documents and Settings|Default User|SendTo. Then I can right-click on any file and Send it To 'list', which will display its contents without modifying the file or getting confused.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA