help, laptop programmes seem to have vanished

allan673

hi - can you help??
a friend has freed up some space on the hard drives c and d on my laptop.
now when i press start, then all programmes i only get accessories, startup, outlook express, remote assistance, outlook express, windows media player, internet explorer and firefox.
where has everything else gone, there was a really long list??? i havent got a clue.

what if i try a system restore, back to yesterday?? will it fix the problem at all.

any help is so much appreciated.

Donnie

Nothing under "All programs"?

Money_Grabber13579

When you go into control panel, are the programs still installed?

allan673

yes they appear to still be installed, for instance i tunes isnt listed, but if i goto control panel, then drive c i can find i tunes and play music?? "if i goto add/remove programes they are still there"
im confused and useless on pc,s lol.

allan673

Donnie wrote: »

Nothing under "All programs"?

just the ones i listed are under all programmes.

Mattjimf

IF you check C:\Documents and Settings\All User\Start Menu\Programs (XP) and also check the same for any other folders in Documents and Settings (For Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu where $USER$ is the different users) and check to see if there is anything there. Sounds like your friend got over zealous with the cleaning and deleted the start menu shortcuts.

Donnie

Have you asked your friend?

allan673

he will be asleep, we did it on my dinner hour.
if the start menu shortcuts were deleted then can i get them back at all easily?? dont really know what im looking for and how to put it right.

would a system restore put things as they were??

Mattjimf

Can't see there being any harm in trying. (may be wrong though).

allan673

was hoping it may be something simple instead of a system restore??

Mattjimf

Have you checked your Recycle bin??