
Normally we would tell you the location of where to go in the registry and what changes you need to make. The registry is the location in Windows where thousands of settings are kept and is not a place you should enter lightly unless you really know what you are doing. The only way to fix this problem is by adding back that file association in your registry. The virus has removed what we call the “ file association” in your registry which tells Windows how to launch exe files whenever you click on them.

You can’t even launch an antivirus program or a utility to fix the problem. So now what do you do if you can’t launch any executables? Your computer is now essentially a paperweight. The virus has disabled Windows from opening any executable files making it much more difficult for you to remove the virus, or do anything else for that matter. You try another random exe file like cmd.exe which should open a command prompt so you can do some further troubleshooting. That’s odd, you have been able to open executable files for as long as you can remember. Of course you can download the best malware removal tool in the industry which is MalwareBytes and attempt to remove this unwelcome piece of malware but as you get started on your download you realize that windows has no idea how to open setup.exe. You can find a newer version of this article around fixing broken file associations on Windows 10. Now unfortunately when you go to open any of your common programs like Word, Outlook or even your PDF viewer windows has no idea how to open any EXE files after this computer virus. We of course tell our customers to avoid clicking on suspicious looking links but that is easier said than done. Our computer virus removal service fixes thousands of computers per month so our technical experts are all too familiar with this scenario. This is a situation we see all too often at Boxaid.


Now you need to clean it off your PC before it causes further damage. Well, it’s too late at this point, you just allowed a virus to run on your PC. So you were minding your own business and checking out the latest cat video on Youtube and next thing you know, you accidentally click on an attractive link promising that you can make millions by working from home.
