What kind of malware is this?

cpcpc2

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2
Location
Finland
My stepmother had a PC with the following specs:

OS: Windows XP Professional SP3
Security: McAfee (can't remember what version)
And had the latest updates

The year was 2010. Once she started the PC, she noticed that all icons on desktop and also all personal files had turned into .pdf files. What helped: Complete reinstallation, since she couldn't even use McAfee, because it had turned into a .pdf file.
 
That's what happens when you change file associations. Open files with XYZ program can wreak havoc on a system if the user doesn't know what they're doing.
As you found out it's simpler to just format and start over. Hopefully she learned her lesson.
 
There is no way to tell the cause of it from your description alone because this is a very simple procedure native to all Windows.

Basically, all file types are now associated to Adobe Reader (as opposed to just PDF). When you click on the icons, it would try to open whatever file it is with Adobe Reader. Of course this doesn't work, so you get the error.

Edit: ahh, didn't see this thread has been replied to :)
 
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