Windows installed an update and now my .lnk and .exe files don’t work. Anytime I try to download a fix from the Internet, it’s, of course, an .exe file and won’t run. I’ve fixed some by right clicking and assigning the proper programs, but I’m afraid I incorrectly applied Internet Explorer to the wrong set of files when I tried to get the program to work, and I believe that complicated the problem. What should I do?
Resetting EXE Files
It’s frustrating when .exe files no longer work because, as you’ve found out, you often need to be able to run executable programs in order to troubleshoot the problem. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy (if you have Windows XP that is) to manually reset the .exe file association. In Windows XP, go to My Computer and click on the Tools menu. Choose Folder Options and click the File Types tab. Look for the .exe file extension in the list. If it’s not there, don’t be alarmed; you can add it manually.
If you see .exe, click it to highlight it and then change the file association to “application.” This tells Windows that .exe files are application files. If it had previously been labeled “HTML document,” then Internet Explorer would have launched in an attempt to open the file. By changing it back to application, Windows will now know what to do when you click an .exe file.
If .exe is not in your list, click on New and enter EXE in the file extension text box. Select “application” from the dropdown Associated File Type list. Click OK (or Restore depending on your computer).
For those who are running Windows Vista, the process is more complicated. View this Restoring EXE File Association article for more information.
Resetting LNK Files
LNK files are link files such as shortcuts. When you click a .lnk icon, it redirects you to the underlying .exe file for which it is linked. When everything is as it should be, the .exe file then launches. However, if the .exe file association is broken, then the .lnk file will not work. If you were having trouble opening an .exe file via a .lnk shortcut, then it’s likely that once you restore the .exe file association, the shortcut will work as expected.
Let us know if your .lnk files do not work after restoring your .exe file association because if they don’t, there’s a registry edit that you can make that might solve the problem.
Celeste Stewart | June 26th, 2009
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Thank you for your help with EXE files. My LNK files still are not working. Would you help me, please with the fix for that? I appreciate your help very much.
Try going into the registry editor and looking under the key entry [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk]. If you see @=”lnk_auto_file” change it to read @=”lnkfile” and reboot.
As always, be extremely careful with registry editing. Set a System Restore point before you begin just in case. To edit the registry, go to Start > Run and type in: regedit.
Microsoft has some info covering LNK files and Windows NT. What operating system are you running?