How do I get desktop icons to reflect the orignal associated application and open correctly?

Question

Product Name: HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
Product Number: A1U55AV#ABA
Operating System: Windows 7 (x86)
All desktop and start menu icons are identical.  As such, the incorrect application opens when clicked. 
How do I restore (system restore hasn't worked) so the correct application is associated with the icon?
HP Customer Support in India has been working on this for weeks and seems unwilling to escalate to someone, preferably US-based, more knowledgable in order to resolve the issue.

Answer 1

Hi Meibach,
this sounds like malware - I would recommend a full antivirus scan.
However if yo uare having no other issues I found the following steps online:
To Reset Icon cache follow the below mentioned steps –
1. Right click on empty area of the desktop and click on Personalize.
2. Click on the Display Properties link.
3. Under Colors, select Medium (16-bit) and click on Apply.
NOTE: If you already have Medium (16-bit) selected, then select Highest (32-bit) instead. Sometimes you will need to do a restart first, then proceed to step
4. Try both ways.
    A) Click yes to confirm the new settings.
5. Now, select Highest (32-bit) and click on OK.
NOTE: If you already have Highest (32-bit) selected, then select Medium (16-bit) instead.
   A) Click on Yes to confirm the new settings.
To Rebuild icon cache follow the below mentioned steps -
1. Click Start, then control panel and in the search box write Folder options.
2. Now click Folder Options to open and select (dot) Show hidden files and folders.
3. Open a Windows Explorer window.
4. Go to C:\Users\(User Name)\AppData\Local
5. Right click on IconCache.db and click on Delete.
6. Click on Yes to confirm the deletion.
NOTE: This deletes the file to the Recycle Bin. It is safe to empty the Recycle Bin when finished.
7. Close the window.
8. Empty the Recycle Bin.
9. Restart the computer.
10. When you go back, you will notice the Size of the IconCache.db file is smaller, and the Date Modified is now the current date.
NOTE: If for some reason IconCache.db is not there or the size has not changed much then you may just restart the computer again. You may need to restart a couple of times in some cases.
11. The icon cache will get rebuilt.
-Bryan
I am an HP employee