Windows cannot find “your program”. Make sure you types the name correctly, and then try again.
Issue
When you try to open a file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, …) you get the following message.
Tasks you may have already performed
You found that only a few applications are not willing to start either by opening files or launching them from the start menu.
You tried to repair or reinstalled the programs
Restarting does not help much.
Problem
Most of the time, it comes from a security or a cleaning software that you’ve installed.
Here is a list of program that are known to cause this issue.
- Avast Antivirus
- Avast Cleaner Premium
- TuneUp Utilities
Solution
Those programs are blocked on a Windows level by the Security or Cleaning software you’ve installed.
Personal advice here : get rid of the damned software that caused the issue and make sure to cancel your subscription. 🙂
Open the registry editor :
- Press Windows + R on your keyboard
- Type regedit
- Press Enter
Go to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
Underneath that key, you will find different keys (folders) that are named against program names.
- Locate the one that is related to your program (winword.exe for Word, excel.exe for Excel, ….)
- Export it on your desktop (Right Click on it then Export and give it a nice name)
- Delete the key
- Repeat these steps for other programs
After that, try to run the program again. If this does not help, you can always restore what you have deleted by double clicking on the registry files you’ve exported on your desktop.
Sources
https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-reader/adobe-reader-no-longer-opens/td-p/10100316?page=1