Fix "Unable to start a .exe file"

[Bluedot]

Yesterday, I tried to extract music from a game which was probably packed in the setup.exe file. I set my winrar to run .exe files hoping to open the setup.exe and extract the music. But when I double clicked on setup.exe, it said "unable to open, archive is corrupt" or something like that. As if it was not enough, the entire set of .exe files on my computer was blocked the same way. I couldn't open the registry editor, nor could I remove winrar from "Add or Remove Programs" (cuz both are exe-s ). I couldn't open the browser, nor the antivirus, ms office, or even uninstall.exe for winrar. Finally, some research, I found a way to get things back to normal:

1. Click Start, Run and type Command

2. Type the following commands one by one:

cd\windows
regedit

3. If registry editor opens successfully, open the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ exefile \ shell \ open \ command

4. Double-click the (Default) value in the right pane

5. Delete the current value data, and then type:

"%1" %*

6. Navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe

7. In the right-pane, set (default) to exefile


Note: If you are unable to open regedit.exe even from command prompt, type this -

copy regedit.exe regedit.com
regedit.com

P.S.

I guess many people know this trick, but its still worth posting cuz found it out all by myself.

[smalldog]

Thanks for share!