Windows 7 Can't open .exe files

[Jeremy Hellpop]

Hoping someone can help with this, as it's a real pain. Any time I try to open an .exe file, or a shortcut to an .exe file, I get an error message saying that Windows cannot find the file.

I've tried moving files to different locations, but nothing works. When I restart in Safe Mode everything opens fine, so I'm worried it's some kind of virus or malware causing the problem. Any ideas?

Thanks for any help.

 

[patcooke]

Could be a registry problem for exe files but as you say things are ok in safe mode I's first run a malware check - get a free download of mabam from here and see if that identifies and removes any problems:

Link Removed - Invalid URL

 

[Jeremy Hellpop]

I had to run MWB in safe mode, but a full scan found nothing. More worryingly, I can't even restore; just get a message saying "System Restore can't start."

I'm running Win 7 64-bit, btw.