I can not run any .exe files

Everytime I try to run a file with the .exe extention, i get an error saying "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Set associations control panel." I found the panel, but it didn't have the extention .exe for me to edit, what do it do. Please help.

-Rob

None of my start-up programs started either.

It turns out that files run when i click run as administrator, how can I change this back

What a curious error you are getting. I happened this with some .exe files because of some components that were missing in my computer, but nothing like this.
Try playing with the admin settings to see if you can fix it. Maybe admin doesn't allow to install any program so that can be a reason for not running .exe files or something like that.

Hi Rob,

Try this out first to see if it will fix your problem. It will reset the EXE file extension association back to default.

1. Go to this site:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/File-association-fixes-for-Windows-Vista.html
2. Click on the exe in the box.
3. Download the exefix_Vista.zip file to your desktop.
4. Follow the rest of the Usage instructions at the site.

If you have trouble unzipping the file, just let me know. I'll post the .reg file here for you.

Shawn

For some reason, my computer can not run .reg files, but i did just fix the problem. I found system restore and ran it as an administrator and just rolled back to before the problem happened. Thank you for all your help.

-Rob

Rob,

Glad to hear you got it fixed. It probably would not let you since the EXE file association was messed up. The only other option would have been to manually edit the registry without the system restore. You should be able to run reg files now though.

Thank you for the feedback,
Shawn

You'd better run athourough virusscan 'cause these corruptions do not happen out of the blue.