Holy crap, weirdest problem ever...

[PoPPeR]

I reinstalled a game on my computer, using a different directory (uninstalled old one first). The shortcut to the wrong file path was still pinned in the start menu, so i redirected it to open with the new program.

So basically, I had MVP baseball installed in c:\Games\MVP Baseball\mvp.exe. I uninstalled it, reinstalled it in c:\program files\ea sports\mvp baseball\, and then when I clicked on the MVP shortcut in the start menu, it was looking for it in the old directory. I pointed it to the new path, and it worked fine. Now however, every shortcut I click on tries to open itself with MVP Baseball. I click on winamp, it opens up MVP Baseball. I click on microsoft word, it opens up MVP Baseball. Basically everytime I click on a program or a shortcut, it tries to open the .exe up with mvp.exe.

I went ahead and just deleted mvp.exe from the regular path so it would stop loading the program everytime I clicked on something, but now it just asks me "what do you want to open this .exe file with?"

I dont have system restore enabled, so that's not an option. Anyone have any idea how to fix this?

 

[IvanAndreevich]

Ouch - computer tries to open file of type shortcut with mvp.exe I would just do a reinstall.

 

[cjard]

do a search in your registry for the mvp.exe.. youre looking for a hit in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT node.

if you open the node, you will see all the file extensions associated on your system. check there is nothing wrong with the .lnk extension (it is the extension of a shortcut).. that's .LNK

if i export my .lnk extension node, and look at it in notepad, this is what i see.. you should see this too:

---------begin---------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk]
@="lnkfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{000214EE-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]
@="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{000214F9-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]
@="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{00021500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]
@="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]
@="{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew]
"Command"="rundll32.exe appwiz.cpl,NewLinkHere %1"
------------end---------------

note that the hex numbers 0000214EE-000 etc might be different on your system


also check the rest of the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT to see if mvp has become associated with anoything. for example, here is the association for a word document:

-----------begin--------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc]
@="Word.Document.8"
"Content Type"="application/msword"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\OpenWithList]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\OpenWithList\WordPad.exe]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\PersistentHandler]
@="{98de59a0-d175-11cd-a7bd-00006b827d94}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\ShellNew]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\Word.Document.6]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\Word.Document.6\ShellNew]
"FileName"="winword.doc"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\Word.Document.8]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\Word.Document.8\ShellNew]
"FileName"="winword8.doc"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\WordDocument]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\WordDocument\ShellNew]
"FileName"="winword2.doc"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\WordPad.Document.1]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\WordPad.Document.1\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""

-------------end--------------


so you might find soemthing similar for your .lnk

also.. you can try looking at afolde rthat contains shorcuts in Details view ode and see what the "type" of a shortcut file is.. it might say something like "MVP.exe file" or soemthing..

------

having just re-read your post, i see that the poster above me might not be correct in that shortcuts have become associated with a program. if you are complaining that NO exe opens when double clicking the EXE itself, then this is very similar behaviour to viruses/worms.. a worm will copy itself onto the HDD, then make sure it associates itself with files of type EXE.. that way the worm is run every time the user opens a program. reversing the problem is as simple as following the steps for any worm that does this. i did a google for "required for opening files of type .exe" and came up with this, amongst others:

http://www.wintrouble.net/discus/messages/55/3011.html

note: you dont need to copy regedit to a floppy, etc.. just read the section about using regedit to repair the damage EXE association.. and do check your system for viruses

 

[PoPPeR]

yeah I ended up just doing a complete format . It's weird, I did a complete repair of winxp first, and even after that the problem still existed. I found a bunch of exe registry fixers but none of them worked.

That is the most annoying & stupid problem i've ever encountered in my life.

Thanks for the help anyways