All applications running a a Notepad text document!!

[Guest]

Every program, and about 75% of the links I click on opens as a Notepad text
doxcument!!! I don't know how it happened or what to do. When I right-click,
the drop-down menu has a new item (for my 'puter, anyway): "Run as" So I
click that, and another dialog box appears which has a box that says "protect
my computer" -- when I UNcheck the box it program (or whatever I'm opening)
starts normally. Can somebody PLEEEEASSSEEE help me?

 

[Not Me]

Something/someone has hijacked your file associations. To fix the
program execute associations, try this: Start/Control Panel/Folder
Options/File Types/scroll down down to EXE (or exe) and select it
[highlight] it and look at the bottom of that window and you will see
the present file association. From what you described, it will be
Notepad. Using either the "Change" or Advanced" button [I forget the
specifics] you can change it back to the default which is "Application"
[will appear as "%1" at the window bottom]. If "EXE" does not appear
just click New, type exe and then click Advanced and BE certain you
select "Application" on the drop down then Apply/OK your way out (you
may have to reboot). The same thing has possibly happened to file
extensions HTA, HTM, HTML, and URL [URL may be the only one affected].
Select [highlight] these one by one; if the association is Notepad,
change it to your Browser {Firefox, Avant, Maxthon, etc or Internet
Explorer which is the Windows default}. Hope this helps!
Gene K