exe files open with notepad

[Guest]

Help
I have recently been getting an outbound alert (with norton internet
security),filename thnall1 ac.exe. Norton's alert assistant told me it was
Adware, so i tried to remove it, but it would not let me. So in my wisdom i
tried to open it with notepad to see what it contained, and now all my exe.
files open in notepad.
On the newsgroups i have found a few things to try, but none have worked.
One was to "right-click" an .exe file and "open with" then uncheck the box to
use with all programs. But i have no option to "open with", i do have "run
as"and if i open a file using this and de-select the "protect my computer and
data from unauthorized activity" or log on again under "the following user",
then the program seems to work fine.
I have also tried the;
EXE and LNK Fix for Windows XP - Line 12
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Aswell as trying the reg fix from
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
None of these seem to work, and i am reluctant to do a re-install as this is
already a recent re-install.
Can anyone help?

 

[Guest]

Fixed this problem by;
Folder options > File types, then because there was no .exe i created one
and tried to change what it opens with which did not work, BUT i noticed a
restore associations button. This worked.