Where'd my programs go....???

Vista 64 Home Premium.

Woke to find my computer had rebooted itself during the night and
Windows failed to restart. Didn't catch the error code, but the message
said if Windows won't restart, insert startup disc and do a repair. That
is what I ended up doing as Windows simply wouldn't start up.

Anyway, repair worked but my desktop looks like from a week ago. The
desktop icons for Thunderbird and a couple of other recently installed
programs are no longer there. Their program folders, however, are still
in the Program Files folder but with no .exe file.

Is there a way to repair the programs so that they are in sync with my
current windows install?

This is a new machine recently purchased from a popular online vendor.
They installed Vista. I've only had it two weeks and have kept it in
pristine condition and it has been working fine....until now. I think
Vista tanked overnight during an update. I'm new to Vista, has this
happened to others?

Major


--
Majorwest

Try doing a system restore see if that helps, all so since its only 2
weeks old id ring up the place u got it from and return it and say fix
it.


--
Crispy2007

If you think anyone helped you, don't hesitate to add reputation using
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"aahfong [mcse]" <> wrote in message
news:cb4175eb-2252-40d4-a932-...
> Hi, sounds like when you opted for a system repair you ended up with a
> system restore - can't understand how this has happened to you, never
> seen it before.
>
> So sounds like as well your recently installed programs have been
> uninstalled in the process leaving you with just the icons - you could
> check the folder structure inside Program Files and you might see
> empty folders for the programs you installed. Or you can check inside
> Program Features and you'll see that they're not there any more. In
> which case you'd have to reinstall those programs before.
>
> Worth trying Crispy's suggestion of a system restore first, might save
> you some time if works. Haven't tried restoring again to a point in
> time after restoring to an even earlier point in time but might just
> work. Otherwise, just a case of reinstalling those programs.

Who are you talking to?
Please QUOTE the post you are replying to.....

Thanks Crispy, aahfong for your replies

The message definitely used the word repair - rather than restore. Th
message was in the 'dos' environment, similiar to when you hit f8 durin
a reboot and are given the additional boot-up options aka safe mode
etc. As a previous Winxp user, I was quite familiar with the restor
option in windows....as well as the repair function on the windows x
install cd. This message definitely did not have the restore verbage

But it certainly does appear that Vista did a restore. As far as th
file structure in the program folders for the programs in question
everything seems to be there as it should be - except for the .exe file
I went into Thunderbird's folder to see if I could start it from there
since the desktop icon is no longer there. But the .exe file is missing
So, really my best options, as suggested, are to reinstall the programs
or perform a restore? If I reinstall the programs, do I simply delet
the existing folders that are still there

Yep, I'll be chatting with the vendor real soon. I just hate th
thought of RMA'ing an entire machine. Sigh

Thanks again.

Majo

--
Majorwest

Gordon wrote:
>
> "aahfong [mcse]" <> wrote in message
> news:cb4175eb-2252-40d4-a932-...
>> Hi, sounds like when you opted for a system repair you ended up with a
>> system restore - can't understand how this has happened to you, never
>> seen it before.
>>
>> So sounds like as well your recently installed programs have been
>> uninstalled in the process leaving you with just the icons - you could
>> check the folder structure inside Program Files and you might see
>> empty folders for the programs you installed. Or you can check inside
>> Program Features and you'll see that they're not there any more. In
>> which case you'd have to reinstall those programs before.
>>
>> Worth trying Crispy's suggestion of a system restore first, might save
>> you some time if works. Haven't tried restoring again to a point in
>> time after restoring to an even earlier point in time but might just
>> work. Otherwise, just a case of reinstalling those programs.
>
> Who are you talking to?
> Please QUOTE the post you are replying to.....

Err - He is Err talking to the person that he was, Err replying to
<sigh>. Err.

Majorwest wrote:
> Thanks Crispy, aahfong for your replies.
>
> The message definitely used the word repair - rather than restore. The
> message was in the 'dos' environment, similiar to when you hit f8 during
> a reboot and are given the additional boot-up options aka safe mode,
> etc. As a previous Winxp user, I was quite familiar with the restore
> option in windows....as well as the repair function on the windows xp
> install cd. This message definitely did not have the restore verbage.
>
> But it certainly does appear that Vista did a restore. As far as the
> file structure in the program folders for the programs in question;
> everything seems to be there as it should be - except for the .exe file.
> I went into Thunderbird's folder to see if I could start it from there,
> since the desktop icon is no longer there. But the .exe file is missing.
> So, really my best options, as suggested, are to reinstall the programs,
> or perform a restore? If I reinstall the programs, do I simply delete
> the existing folders that are still there?
>
> Yep, I'll be chatting with the vendor real soon. I just hate the
> thought of RMA'ing an entire machine. Sigh.
>
> Thanks again..
>
> Major
>
>
With Thunderbird you may delete the folder under Program Files;
however don't touch any references to Thunderbird under
User/AppData - that is where your mail/news profile data is
stored. Hopefully they have remained intact with the Vista repair.

If when you re-install Thunderbird you find yourself at square
one again with setting up accounts, etc. check out the knowledge
base at mozillazine.org.

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Annailís