cannot open any .exe

[Karl The Gimp]

hi, got a problem on 1 of my pc's, it must have got a virus, but i cannot open any .exe, not even able to do a system restore because it comes up cannot open the RSTRUI.EXE.
Running windows xp pro with service pack 2.

[Craig321]

Ouch, that sounds bad.

Maybe a XP reinstall is in order, I definitely wouldn't recommend trying to fix that problem.

[ajbrun]

Safe mode?

[directhex]

i've seen this happen once

part of your registry has gone walkabout - the part that keeps track of what is used to open certain file types

quickest fix is reinstalling windows

[Karl The Gimp]

tried it in safe mode, still wont let me open any exe file.

[Karl The Gimp]

something must have changed a registry entry.

[Karl The Gimp]

noooo, dont wanna reinstall windows, gotta sort this out.

[directhex]

noooo, dont wanna reinstall windows, gotta sort this out.

then you need a fixed registry

so first, run regedit.exe.........

[Karl The Gimp]

lol, cant coz it wont let me run any .exe, not even regedit.exe

[Karl The Gimp]

i think i have sored it!!

[directhex]

lol, cant coz it wont let me run any .exe, not even regedit.exe

but if your registry is buggered, you need to fix it.

it's over an hour since you asked the question, you could have reinstalled by now

[Karl The Gimp]

right...
I couldnt run regedit.exe so i did this..
Run / command / cd\windows / regedit.
this opened up regedit, then i went to .. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ exefile \ shell \ open \ command and the (Default) value wasnt set to anything, so i changed this to "%1" %*
Then i went to .. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe and made sure the value was set to exefile
This then let me open up all my .exe's!!! YAY!!

[Karl The Gimp]

only posted at 2.46pm, its now 3.08pm

[Karl The Gimp]

still seems ok!!

[Craig321]

Good good. Make sure you do scans for viruses etc.

[ikonia]

been runing for 4 minutes, not really a long test is it