Huge Problem with Adobe Software and PDF files

[KimmyZ]

My computer operating system is Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 3 installed.  Everything was running perfectly until about 2 weeks ago. I have Windows and Adobe set up to run automatic updates whenever they're available.  I'm not sure what Adobe update was installed, but immediately after it installed, I could not open any PDF file without my computer crashing.  Also, whenever I try to start Adobe Acrobat Pro or Photoshop, my computer suddenly also crashes.  I tried uninstalling Acrobat Pro, but when I tried that it also caused my computer to crash!  So now I can't even uninstall any of my Adobe software!

All my Microsoft software is running perfectly (Word, Excel, Outlook).  My Internet browser (IE) is working just fine.  Why are my Adobe software packages and PDF files the only things not working?  And why can't I even uninstall any of it?  I looked to see if I had any Acrobat Reader installed (free one), but Windows doesn't list anything like that under the list of installed programs.  It just shows that Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, Flash and a few other Adobe programs are installed.

I've always used McAfee anti-virus software, and have never had any virus problems.  I don't think this is a virus, because I can open my PDF files on other computers without any problems.  So the files themselves aren't affected.

How can I solve this terrible problem, and how can I prevent it from happening again?

[wgrayson]

For Kimmymz and DR_2, you two guys (or gals!) rock. This was exactly the answer to my problem with ADOBE 9 PROFESSIONAL CRASHING IN WINDOWS 7 AND ADOBE 9 PRO CANNOT UNINSTALL -- THE ANSWER FOR BSOD.    There was a Trojan that had gone undetected by my Mcafee Virus Scan.  This was the solution.  Thank you thank you. There is a specific virus that it appears only  Kapersky's Anti rootkit Utility TDSSKiller is detecting.

By the way, please note how I all-capped " Adobe 9 Professional crashing in windows 7 and adobe pro cannot uninstall -- THE ANSWER! "?  The reason for the all caps and repeating is that there is a good change Google may index this thread / forum, even though you need to sign in to participate.  If anyone else encounters this problem and they google it, perhaps they will find this thread in the search results.  

[KimmyZ]

DR_2 was the person who saved the day. I’m just passing on the good news, and I’m SO glad it helped you too. I’m guessing that Windows has more protection against this Trojan than McAfee because all my Microsoft software (Word, Excel, etc.) was completely unaffected by it. Windows does daily updates to protect itself, and I guess that McAfee needs to get on the ball and find out how to detect this very damaging virus.

Kimmy