I had several viruses worms malware etc got rid of them now when I try to opan exe files like internet explorer calculator notepad etc it ask to do it in a different program

What operating system are you using?

Further, fixing this particular file handler involves numerous registry keys. If your system is this messed up, there are likely other configuration changes that need to be made as well. I encourage you to wipe the drive and reinstall Windows to ensure your system is malware free and without latent issues.