Windows Vista trouble opening exe files on vista ultimate

My son and his girlfriend want to connect with me by Zoom over the holidays. Unfortunately, my computer has no camera, so I'm attempting to install zoom on his old laptop he left behind. It has vista ultimate as its OS. I can download programs, but pressing open or run as administrator or enter doesn't seem to do anything. Do you have any suggestions on how to open programs on this laptop. I'm not familiar with laptops.

 

I knew I could use my phone, but due to security concerns I want to use my son's old laptop. Is there a way I can get zoom to open on his laptop?

 

https://zoomappdownload.com/download-zoom-meeting-for-windows/

 

I know how it's supposed to work, but every time I click on an exe file on this laptop, nothing happens. It hasn't been used for many years, so maybe it has to do with that. I tried updating CCleaner also, and nothing happened when I clicked on the exe file. I can download fine. Any ideas of what the problem might be?

 

Pete, I experimented with some other downloads to see if I could open them. I was able to open 7Zip and Kubuntu. I see from your link I might be able to fix the problem of not opening exe files by restoring to defaults using regedit..Would this fix a problem with certain files or all files? Not knowing if he adjusted the registry for some of his engineering programs, I'm reluctant to restore it to default, especially if I can open some programs. Do you feel it is a registry issue if I can open other programs? Are there some programs you'd recommend I download and open before changing the registry?

 

I downloaded the program onto my computer, put the entire file on a flashdrive and then transferred it to the laptop. It seems to work. Luckily I don't have to work with this laptop much. I'm still open to a better understanding of this issue, though.

 

I've previously found that programs didn't work if they weren't originally installed on the computer. I was pleasantly surprised I could import the whole file and have it functional. I'll find out how functional when I attempt to use it this evening. I still don't understand how I can open some programs on the laptop but not others. My son doesn't recall doing anything that might limit that action, though it has been so long since he's used it that we had to jump through hoops to discover his password.

 

Sorry, missed the OS,