Had a recent pc infected w/ "xp ant

imalware 2010" to the point that no ".exe" programs would run, and there were no restore points available as well.

Found this registry fix, which worked, and (following execution then reboot) allowed me to install an executable used to scan and remove the infections (and in this particular case, once cleaned, I turned on the 'system restore' and created a restore point).  Thought this was worth sharing…

Click Start, Run. Type command and press Enter. Type notepad and press Enter.
Notepad opens. Copy all the text below into Notepad.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"
Save this as "fix.reg" and copy to the infected Desktop (remember to select Save as file type: All files in Notepad.)
Double Click "fix.reg" and click YES for confirm.
Reboot the computer.

Then you can install Malwarebytes.org and clean the PC.