Windows 10: Eventviewer showing application names without the final e of .exe

I have a system which is suddenly misbehaving. USB devices stopping working etc. The Event viewer reports several errors, one indicates that an executable is not of the correct format and gives its name xxx.ex the final e is missing. There are other entries for windows system components and again the name is missing the final e. Please see the screenshot.This does not seem normal, any ideas what is going wrong?

:)

 

Faulting application name: bad_module_info when trying to run exe installer

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



In order to help you with the appropriate troubleshooting steps, please reply with the following details:

• Do you receive any error message when you run the .exe installer?
  
• Which version of Windows is installed on the computer currently? To check type:
  winver in the search bar on the Taskbar and hit Enter.
  

As you have mentioned that you have Kaspersky installed on the computer, it could be that Kaspersky is blocking the installers to run. I suggest you to try disabling Kaspersky and see if that helps. Please follow the steps to disable Kaspersky:

1. Type Kaspersky in the search bar on the
   Taskbar and open it from the search results.
   
2. Now, click on Settings.
   
3. Click on Additional and then click on
   Self-Defense.
   
4. Clear the check box for
   Enable Self-Defense to disable Kaspersky.
   
5. If you receive any prompt, click on Continue.
   
   Note: Disabling Antivirus software may open the computer to threats. Make sure to enable it after performing the troubleshooting.
   

You can also check if the application that you are trying to run is Quarantined by Kaspersky. If the application is Quarantined, restore the application and see if that helps. Please follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Type Kaspersky in the search bar on the
   Taskbar and open it from the search results.
   
2. Click on More tools.
   
3. In the Tools window, click on
   Quarantine.
   
4. Look for the .exe installer that you are trying to run. If you find the installer, right click on it and select
   Restore to restore it to its original location.
   

Please reply with the status of the issue, we will be glad to help you further.



Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

AGP card with Asus A7N8X-X motherboard

Also post a list of your eventviewer application error and the system errors plz.

 

Not running new .exe or .msi files

thank you, TO for your suggestions, but these didn't help unfortunately.

"winmgmt /verifyrepository" came back as consistent and the Catroot2 has been moved to Catroot2.old, restarted and still the same problem.
what else could I try please?

regards
D

- - - Updated - - -

Just a bit more info about what I noticed....

- I can run .exe files as long as these are part of installed applications, like Word, Excel and other applications that have been installed for a long time. Could it be that if I move the .exe files to the folder where the other installed .exe are these would also run? I will try that.

- - - Updated - - -

OK..... so, just tried this...

went into C:\Program Files (x86)\Audacity and double clicked on "audacity.exe" without any hesitations this applications started.
I pasted another, just downloaded, application (.exe) into that same Audacity folder and it certainly didn't do anything after double clicking on it. It's like there has been a white list created with all application names that were installed up to a certain date/time and anything that isn't part of that list cannot be run (should be ignored)???? Does this even exist and if this is a possibility how could I figure it out? IT management says that they have certainly not installed anything like that.