Windows 7: I can't open my programs in windows 7

My programs are still here but I can't open them....Almost everything I can't open...The programs that don't open lost their individual icons and now they all share the same windows icon....I've tried many suggestions like: avast, combo fix, FixExec, malwarebytes, etc. An example of a program i can't open: I have a microsoft word document that I have saved in my laptop...It's there but, when I try to open it, nothing happens...I know it could be a virus and I have tried many things like the suggestions I just mentioned and now I believe I no longer have a virus....Anyway, I would like a solution that would not cost any money and would not cause me to lose my programs and data...I have a lot of things saved on my laptop that I can't afford to lose and I would like to go back to using them again...Another thing is that my laptop is not getting internet from the router of my home computer...The internet is fine on the home computer but, for some reason my laptop is connected to the router but, it is not getting internet...I'm just mentioning that to maybe help you guys have a better idea of whats going on with my laptop.

Hello v16butterfly, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You might see if downloading the .reg files for the listed lnk (LNK) and exe options in the tutorial below may be able to help. It will restore their default associations.

Default File Type Associations - Restore

Hope this helps,
Shawn

thanks but I already solved the problem on my own by doing a system restore

That's great news. I'm happy to hear you got it sorted.