Microsoft Word/Excel files have weird icons/generic icons

Not quite sure when it started, but a friend's computer has some strange icons on the desktop. Basically, the icons are the generic icons Windows uses to display the file type it doesn't know how to open. However, when you click on it, they can be opened by Word or Excel.

Upon on further checking, the files with wired/generic icons are actually Word or Excel files. Other Microsoft Office applications don't seem to be affected.

Followed the methods at https://superuser.com/questions/505859/microsoft-word-files-have-weird-icons-suddenly, but nothing helped.

One possible cause of this issue is that the files in the C:\Windows\Installer\{91140000-0011-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE} corrupted. Note that 91140000-0011-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE may change based on your version of Office. You can go to C:\Windows\Installer and search 'wordicon.exe' to locate the exact folder. This folder also can be found in Registry at \HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.AddInMacroEnabled\DefaultIcon.

Once you open the folder, find out the *icon.exe files with generic icons, copy the good ones from C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14 (again, this may change based on your version of Microsoft Office) and overwrite the ones in C:\Windows\Installer\{91140000-0011-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE}. Restart the computer and the problem should be solved.

Set up Adobe PDF viewer in TeXnicCenter

After long time without using TeXnicCenter, suddenly found out the PDF viewer does not work any more. It seems that every time when Adobe updates their PDF reader, there are settings that need to be changed in TeXnicCenter.

The first step is to disable "Enable Protected Mode at startup" in the Adobe PDF viewer (Edit>Preferences>General or  Edit -> Preferences -> Security(Enhanced), depends on the version). Then change the settings in TexnicCenter.

Basically in the Viewer settings there are four sections that need to be changed. The Executable Path should point to the location where the PDF viewer is . The table below summaries the other settings.

Version	View project's output and  Forward search	Close document before running (La)TeX
X	Select DDE command and the command is [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")] Server: arcroviewR10    Topic: Control The server above is for Adobe Reader. For Adobe Acrobat Pro, use arcroviewA10.	Select DDE command and the command is [DocClose("%bm.pdf")] Server: arcroviewR10    Topic: Control The server above is for Adobe Reader. For Adobe Acrobat Pro, use arcroviewA10. If the command does not work, use [AppExit] Instead.
XI	Choose Command line argument and type in "%bm.pdf"	Select DDE command and the command is [AppExit] Server: arcroviewR11    Topic: Control The server above is for Adobe Reader. For Adobe Acrobat Pro, use arcroviewA11.
DC	Use the setting for X or XI. The Server is arcroviewR15 for reader and arcroviewA 15 for Acrobat Pro.	Use the setting for X or XI. The Server is arcroviewR15 for reader and arcroviewA 15 for Acrobat Pro.

Your player is out of date malware

Suppose your homepage is set as Google. When you open Firefox, it shows the Google as the start-up page, but in addition, there is a popup window of a scary warning:

WARNING! Your (Flash) Player may be out of date. Please update, blah blah…

It may not have the word “Flash”, but the icon next to the warning looks like that it is a Adobe Flash update.

Wait - if you look carefully - you are still at Google page, based on the address bar, but the page looks different from the normal Google page. Now it contains lots of extra links, and the links seem legitimate. However, why it shows the Flash player warning? Google search doesn’t use Flash.

You are right, this is caused by malware. To remove this malware, simply Google “Your player is out of date malware” and follow the advice given.

However, the issue comes back and back again even you have scanned your computer several times using well-known anti-malware software! Don’t panic, it is not your fault. You may forget to check your router, which may be comprised. For example, a strange DNS server is set, or bridge mode is used instead of PPPoE in the modem.

Find out all the necessary information to set your modem/router, do a factory reset, update the firmware if there is a new version available. Set the modem/router and see how it goes.

You may the link below useful:
http://malwaretips.com/blogs/warning-your-flash-player-may-be-out-of-date-virus/