Cannot open *.exe files

My husbands laptop (used to be mine). Dell Inspiron 6000 have been having intermittent issues. Latest is tonight where everything that is clicked comes up with a "which program do you want to open this with ".

From what I'm reading there is most likely registry issues?

Any advice?

Thanks.

 

Thanks. So my next question is regarding this:

NOTE: If your EXE file associations are corrupted, it can be difficult to open REGEDIT, or to even import REG files. To work around this, press CTRL-ALT-DEL and open Task Manager. Once there, click File, then hold down the CTRL key and click New Task (Run). This will open a Command Prompt window. Enter REGEDIT.EXE and press Enter.​

All that it would let me open was a notepad version of the downloaded reg file. So now that I am in REGEDIT am I importing the file? It asks if I want to restore to the top of the key and everything below will be deleted.

 

Yes, tried importing but before doing so I am not sure if importing to top of key or finding where to put in registry. Have only modified registry with guidance before and words like "all values and subentries will be deleted" gives me pause.

 

It is funny you should mention virus. We've been having some google redirect issues as well and I saw you're helping someone with that.

I've got two kids under 3 so I will try posting the needed logs tonight when they hopefully collapse.

Thanks for your help.