"This file does not have a program associated with it for preforming this action."

I recently got a virus from a random popup when I was searching for some recipes on the internet. Immediately my browser exited out and a program called "Antivirus Vista" popped up. It started scanning my computer and kept provoking that there was malware on my computer (which there wasn't). My main antivirus system is Windows Live OneCare. It finished the scan, claiming I had 30 viruses on my computer (which I didn't).

I already knew this was a fake, so I canceled everything, but the little 'balloons' that popup through the toolbar kept saying the my firewall was off (which it wasn't). I immediately took action. I deactivated my network connection, and started up Malwarebyte's. It found 3 viruses (the ones that caused the fraud antivirus) and it removed it. I then ran OneCare to ensure that there wasn't anymore viruses, and there wasn't.

But now, every program that I try to run comes up with this error:

"This file does not have a program associated with it for preforming this action. Create an association in the Set Associations control panel."

I couldn't find the 'set associations' in the control panel.

The virus affected everything but Internet Explorer (thank God). Even command prompt!

What should I do? I can't do anything until this is fixed.

Thanks,
Alex.

Re: "This file does not have a program associated with it for preforming this action.

Easiest would be to go back to a prior restore point. Even when the virus is removed, the damage is not.