How can I know what file associations bogus or no longer needed?

Does malware/viruses take advantage of file associations to do their dirty work? I have a utility that can delete unwanted associations, but what about those entries that are unknown, can't be identified, or suspicious? Is there any list like on your helpful default file association page that can identify bogus entries? I upgraded from Vista to Windows 7.

Hello Ameribrit Welcome to the Seven Forums!

One good way to see all genuine file associations restored to their defaults is by following the guide seen at http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/19449-default-file-type-associations-restore.html

Generally a good security sweep of the drive with one or more better malware removers will pick up on the traces of recoding malwares tend to see. I-Worms and rogue scam wares are usually the most common for changing file attributes and self replication even some creating a totally new admin account to lock the user out.

One good way of spotting bogus items is identifying suspicious processes. You may want to review a blog about this seen at Security Tips: Identify Malware Hiding in Windows' System Folders