Is there any reason to change the .exe file association on Windows?
Solution 1:
Changing the .exe file association to deal with viruses and security concerns is a bit like using a sledge hammer to open a jar of pasta sauce. Yea, it'll open the jar alright, but you'd probably have been better off using a different tool.
A good antivirus tool will take care of those things that careful computing cannot avoid, and will do so without requiring the setting of a critical file setting to something it really was not designed to work as.