Windows – right click on program > “%1” %* instead of run

Check the permissions of the C:\Users{your username}\Desktop folder by navigating to C:\Users{your username} (or click on your username from the Start Menu), right clicking, and selecting the Security tab.

If you were able to do this before, but suddenly can't, malware may be the cause. Also, if you copied a backup of your Desktop folder from somewhere else, as a different user, it may still have "old" permissions on it.

Paste the following into notepad

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe\OpenWithList]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe\OpenWithProgids]
"exefile"=hex(0):

In notepad On the File menu, click Save as

Select All Files in the Save as type list, and then type Exe.reg in the File name box. Select Unicode in the Encoding list. Save it and remember the file location.

Go to the file location and right click on the EXE.reg file and select "merge"

Restart the PC.

For alternative ways to fix this issue and a bit more info view this page from Microsoft