Computer problem.

wolvesinwales

I have suddenly got a strange problem with my computer.
Whenever i try to open a program i get the message ' windows needs to know what program to open .INK files with'
It seems like all of my programs have been renamed with a .INK extension.
I can't even get into system restore to do a restore.
The only program that still opens is AOL !
Any help greatly appreciated.

albertross_2

is that ink or lnk?

wolvesinwales

Sorry yes just checked and its lnk

Browntoa

Extension: LNK

Windows Shortcut File

shortcut file is a pointer to an .EXE file somewhere on your system. When you click on the shortcut it's like clicking on the .EXE file and the associated program should start and run. Sometimes .LNK files will stop working. This can be because the underlying .EXE association has been broken by something (often by some form of anti-malware program improperly changing the registry) or the association in the registry can be come corrupted. See the FAQs for the .EXE problem. The other problem generally asserts itself when all shortcuts seem to open the same program. You may be able to fix this by opening the registry editor and looking in the key entry [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk] where you might see @="lnk_auto_file". If you see that, change the value to @="lnkfile" and all should work again after a system restart. Note: This file type can become infected and should be carefully scanned if someone sends you a file with this extension.

http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=LNK

Browntoa

try going into safe mode and virus scanning the PC

http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

wolvesinwales

Thanks for the suggestions so far but even in safe mode my virus scan programs wont open because of the .lnk problem. I did manage to do a system restore in safemode but it has not cured the problem.
Any more suggestiond please ?

albertross_2

Does this work?

start, run, iexplore

http://safety.live.com/site/en-gb/default.htm

Full service scan

wolvesinwales

I tried that scan and it found problems but said unable to heal them.

albertross_2

Could you elaborate?

Chippy_Minton

Run the LNK file association fix at http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm. You may also need the EXE file association fix as well.

albertross_2

You're on form tonight chippy!