default programs have been changed

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#69584 11-Oct-2010 21:13

hi there guys,
im close to throwing my pc out the window at this stage.
i cannot open anything.
i was opening a foreign zip file with 7zip. 7zip decided to become the default opener for EVERY SINGLE EXE IN MY COMPUTER !
so now i cannot open anything. i was hoping an uninstall of 7zip would revert all my default programs.
all the icons are now white. when i double click, windows asks "what type of program i want to open it with"
and i have choices like VLC media player, Steam, Picture viewer. and im trying to open firefox !.

i guess its one of those windows 7 things...

anyone know i way i can change my default opener from nothing to something?
currently i have white shortcuts and start menu entries that dont open.

im confident on pcs, but never seen anything this .... this stupid.

thanks in advance

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1426 posts

Uber Geek

#390659 11-Oct-2010 21:29

if it helps, i noticed when i rebooted all of the icons were fixed for about 1 second. then they swap back to the blank white icon.
always correct themselves for about a second each boot...not enough time for me to click it though.
i tried refreshing explorer.exe but when i type "explorer.exe" in new task, windows cannot open it because the default program is %^#$ing 7zip.
:S this is frustrating with an assignment due tomorrow..

urban

487 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390697 11-Oct-2010 23:12

try this

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/04/24/fix-blank-or-white-shortcut-icons-on-desktop/

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#391055 12-Oct-2010 18:11

hey man, still not working. i have a feeling it could be a virus? but then again, every pc error people say virus virus !
heres a picture of my computer screen, im on my laptop now (just incase ur wondering)

here is a link
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/6615/43313716.png

it shows my system 32 folder, cmd not working, and the options i have

any chance of survival?
i have the feeling i need to reinstall windows or i have a virus :S

cheers guys hope someone knows a fix

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#391123 12-Oct-2010 23:06

ultra sigh....
rumor around school says that some people have been getting viruses via the school network, onto their usb's and getting infected at home.
looks like im a victim to that....

do you think windows.old would save my 5TB of data? cheers

VinLew

210 posts

Master Geek

#391131 12-Oct-2010 23:43

If you don't have any antivirus software (bad idea) then you could try an online scanner - I know bitdefender have an online scanner on their site. If you get rid of any virus' from the online scanner, then reboot, scan again, and if it's clear download Microsoft Security Essentials (if you don't have an antivirus.)

dontpanic42

1574 posts

Uber Geek

#391144 13-Oct-2010 01:28

If you suspect you have a virus, you should try installing an anti-virus program and running a full scan. i.e. Microsoft Security Essential, Avast, AVG. That is, if you haven't already got an AV program.

If you are unable to install an Anti-virus program within windows, then give the AVG Rescue CD a go.
http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-rescue-cd

Burn it to disc, and then boot from it before starting Windows.

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#391160 13-Oct-2010 07:52

ThAnks guys, I'll scan it after school and see what comes up, I have avast installed. Maybe avast didn't protect me after all. :s

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vexxxboy

4243 posts

Uber Geek

#391167 13-Oct-2010 08:55

if its a really nasty virus you may have to scan your pc in safety mode to get rid of it, also trend micro have a good online virus scan

read this see if it sounds like the problem

http://www.virusremovalguru.com/?p=5911

Common sense is not as common as you think.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#391194 13-Oct-2010 09:49

Are you sure you didnt just associate 7Zip with .exe accidentally? Removing 7-Zip wouldn't necessarily revert the association to the original, it might just remove 7-Zip's. Check exefile in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (I'm not on my Windows 7 machine at the moment but it's probably the same). The open command should be "%1" %*, maybe that's all that's required, and defaulticon to %1.

Might be worth a try. Or do a search for exefile default and you'll find lots of help.

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#391365 13-Oct-2010 15:34

Can't do virus scan because avast cannot launch :(
I'll try that % thingy now mate
Thanks

dontpanic42

1574 posts

Uber Geek

#391375 13-Oct-2010 15:51

b0untypure1: Can't do virus scan because avast cannot launch :(
I'll try that % thingy now mate
Thanks

You should definitely try booting from the AVG Rescue CD and doing a full scan of your computer regardless.

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#391383 13-Oct-2010 16:00

yea im performing the scan now.
i have fixed the problem by resetting the values in my registry !
im happy to have my good computer back alive :D
virus scanning at the moment, because i never have touched registry prior to this date

heres what fixed it (incase others need solution one day)

---------------------------------------------

copy and paste this into notepad

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.EXE]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.EXE\PersistentHandler]
@="{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile]
@="Application"
"EditFlags"=hex:38,07,00,00
"FriendlyTypeName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\
00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\
32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
00,2c,00,2d,00,31,00,30,00,31,00,35,00,36,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\DefaultIcon]
@="%1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open]
"EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\DropHandler]
@="{86C86720-42A0-1069-A2E8-08002B30309D}"

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe\UserChoice]

now save it as exe.reg and move to desktop.
double click and select "yes" then restart computer

all is good !
geekzone time :D]

thanks to all

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#391386 13-Oct-2010 16:06

Should add that registry modification is not something to be taken lightly. It's easy to mess things up if you don't know what you're doing. In this case, I'd like to have seen what the existing registry values were and modified them as required rather than blindly resetting everything.

Glad to hear you got things working though, hopefully your computer is clean.

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#391478 13-Oct-2010 18:53

bazzer i would love to let you know, but the thing was i couldnt enter regedit at the time because its an exe file :S
i just browsed the net and found that its to do with the "%1" etc being changed

thanks, yea still scanning it atm. 5tb of data LOL

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#391661 14-Oct-2010 09:40

b0untypure1: bazzer i would love to let you know, but the thing was i couldnt enter regedit at the time because its an exe file :S
i just browsed the net and found that its to do with the "%1" etc being changed

thanks, yea still scanning it atm. 5tb of data LOL

Did you try running it from the command prompt or run dialog?

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