Windows 11 PRO “cannot find” some .EXE programs when I try to execute them

The problem: Windows 11 PRO “cannot find” some .EXE programs when I try to execute them, either via shortcut or via direct double-click of the .EXE itself. Most of my .EXEs were populated onto the Desktop PC via transfer from another PC which was running Windows 11 Home, upgraded from Windows 10 Home last year. Many transferred with no problem. It appears to me across several examples that the difference between those that worked post-transfer and those that do not is that the non-addressable EXEs all are stored in folder PROGRAM FILES in a subfolder (or sub-subfolder) with one or more spaces in the folder name.

I have tried all of the standard recommended CMD and Powershell “fixes”, and none have made any difference.

I also tried deleting and reloading one of the .EXE applications on the old upgraded Windows 11 Home PC and it still worked. I reloaded onto the new PC, and it still has the “Windows cannot find” problem. I created a new folder without spaces in the name on the new PC and copied all of the subfolder files to it, and the application did try to run though was unable to do some external communication things (like activation). I did the same thing on the old PC, and the application ran perfectly from its new folder, including activation.