Unable to open .exe files

Anonymous
2010-02-01T02:00:45+00:00

Vista won't load .exe files! And more problems...

Ok, so all of a sudden, my computer goes berserk and I get all these pop-ups and messages saying that my computer is infected. Then it continues to say that I can't use the computer unless I delete the Trojans. I press the Remove Virus button and it takes me to a page on IE that says I have to pay for this Windows Vista Security package to remove the viruses. I ignore that, and proceed to download Avast! the great free anti-virus program that so many people have told me about.

Well, I tried to open Avast! but Windows kept saying that that file was infected. So I shut down several times, and I still had the problem. So I gave up, went to bed, hoping that the problem would be fixed tomorrow.

Next day: I opened Windows, and I didn't have any of those pop-ups. But, I couldn't open ANYTHING. I tried to open Firefox, and something popped up saying something like "Windows cannot find the correct program to open firefox.exe, choose a program from the list" and all that was on the list was Internet Explorer.

When I tried to open Microsoft Word, it said that it couldn't find the correct program, and told me to choose frmo the listed programs, which was just Internet Explorer.

Same thing happened with Google Chrome, Avast!, and Notepad.... All of them were prompting me to open them with a different kind of program.

Thing is, when I try to open IE itself, it prompts me to open it with the correct program-opener, and lists Internet explorer.

I didn't get those pop-ups, or messages telling me I had viruses anymore...

Please help, as soon as possible.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Apps

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Anonymous
2012-03-30T01:04:56+00:00

Hello Pixel Lite,

There was a KB article created to help fix this issue, the article has a Fix it to automate the steps.

See this KB article:

Can't open .EXE files in Windows 7 or Windows Vista

Hope this helps.

L.D.

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Anonymous
2010-02-04T09:10:54+00:00

So I just fixed mine, EXEs are loading correctly now. It was a few registry issues that just need to be changed.

  1. Type command in the RUN dialog box to open Command Prompt
  2. When Command Prompt is up, type cd \windows3. Type regedit to open up the Registries.

4. Expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and find the folder of .exe

  1. Without expanding it, on the main .exe folder, Right-click (Default) and Modify. Change the Value Data to exefile6. Now in the same HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT find the folder of exefile and Right-click (Default) and Modify. Change the Value Data to "%1" %*
  2. Lastly expand exefile, expand shell, expand open, click on the command folder, Right-click (Default) and Modify. Change the Value Data to "%1" %*
  3. Close Regedit and Restart the computer. When restarted, EXE files should not prompt you to choose a program to run it now and load correctly.

Hope this helps yall out!

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-02-05T02:27:10+00:00

    Hm, I did the thing liltvboiraver said.

    When i oped regedit and go to step 7, (Default) was alerady "%1" % and when I pressed Modify, and then pressed enter again, it said that it could not be executed or something.

    Oh yes,, and before that when I went to C: > Windows > regedit

    I got 3 regedit.exe, all in different files.....

    I just ignored it and restarted my computer anyway.

    It took a while to shut down, but it finally did.

    So when I logged in and pressed IE it said the following,

    • Windows cannot open this file:
    • File: iexplore.exe
    • To open this file, Windows needs to know what program you want to use to open it. Windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can manually select from a list of programs that are installed on your computer.
    • What do you want to do?
    • Use the Web Service to find the Correct program
    • Select a program from a list of installed programs

    I cilcked Select a program from a list of installed programs. Then it a dialog box popped up saying:

    • Choose the program you want to use to open this file:
    • File: iexplore.exe
    • Recommended programs-
    • Internet Explorer

    I pressed IE and Ok.

    Then this Dialog Box popped up.

    • Windows cannot open this file:
    • File: ssvagent.exe
    • To open this file, blahblahblah etc.
    • What do you want to do?
    • Use the Web service to find the correct program
    • Select a program from a list of installed programs.

    I chose the select a program, and ok.

    Then it prompted me to choose the program to open it with, and I pressed IE.

    Then the SAME dialog box popped open (ssvagent.exe)

    And behind it was two more dialogs: File Download Security Warning and the File Download box, which showed a piece of paper floating away from the earth and into a folder. And all the download stuff

    The file Download security warning said this:

    • Do you want to run or save this file?
    • Name: iexplore.exe
    • Type: "%1" %*, 632KB
    • From: C:/Program Files/Internet Explorer
    • Run | Save | Cancel
    • While files from the Internet can be useful, this file type can potentially harm your computer. If you do not trust the source, do not run or save this software. Whats the risk?

    *Note, I only bolded for emphasis...

    When I pressed RUN, this popped up (sorry for this long post)

    • Internet Explorer - Security Warning
    • Do you want to run this software?
    • Name: Microsoft Windows
    • Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
    • Run | Don't Run

    When I press Run, the File Download box then comes to  front of the screen with the green bar coming left to the right of the bar indicating that its downloading. Extimated time left: Download to: Temporary Folder, and Transfer Rate are all empty (except Download to) and Cancel is the only button being able to be pressed. So I pressed Cancel and nothing happens except the dialog box closes.

    There was nothing else to do so I just closed everything.

    Sorry for the long post and the detailed steps, I just really want to get this fixed.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-02-05T05:42:20+00:00

    Try the Malewarebyte. It worked for me. When it downloads, right-click on the icon, and choose "start"

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-02-07T04:36:05+00:00

    How did you get Malewarebyte? My computer won't even let me use IE.

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