I've run into a really frustrating issue after rebooting my computer. Now, whenever I try to open an EXE or LNK file, I just get this annoying prompt asking how I want to open the file. The fixes I found online suggest using regedit or command prompt, but those are EXE files too! I did manage to boot into command prompt with some restart options and tried accessing regedit from there, but no fixes I found seem to work. To make matters worse, when I try to access the startup settings menu, my keypresses aren't being detected, so I can't even get into safe mode. I'm wondering if there's anything I can try before I resort to reinstalling Windows.
3 Answers
I get that reinstalling Windows can be a massive hassle, especially if you have to rebuild custom settings and reinstall everything. Backing everything up would definitely be a priority if you can't find another fix. If the command methods don’t work, it sounds like a clean install might be your last resort.
If you can get into Windows, pressing Windows + R might bring up the Run dialog. You could potentially run a series of commands to re-associate your file types to their defaults. There are specific commands that handle .exe and .lnk files which could fix the issue without needing a full reinstall.
Before going straight for a Windows reinstall, have you tried running some commands in command prompt to reset the associations for your EXE and LNK files? If you can access command prompt via task manager, you can run a few commands to restore their default settings. It’s worth a shot if you can get that far!
Related Questions
Can't Load PhpMyadmin On After Server Update
Redirect www to non-www in Apache Conf
How To Check If Your SSL Cert Is SHA 1
Windows TrackPad Gestures