Please note that the above text of C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\mshta.exe relates to 32-bit execution. For 64-bit execution use instead C:\\Windows\\System32\\mshta.exe.

Try to see if your antivirus product has decided that .hta applications are a security threat (which they are, allowing an html file to modify the system).

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When I try calling mhsta.exe from the command line and passing in the name of the HTA as an argument, the HTA doesn't open, but there are no additional errors.

If you need to reestablish the registry settings for .hta applications, you may create and execute a .reg file containing the following text. The contents are a modification of the github file Default_HTA.reg with data from my computer :

When I try Open With in the context menu, the mshta.exe executable no longer appears in the context menu (like it used to). When I browse to it (either the 32-bit or 64-bit version) I get the following: