programs dissapeared ifrom menu

[Tbag]

I was downloaded a large file yesterday and my laptop restarted half way through and when it came back on I noticed when I click start->programs most of the programs were gone.

The shortcuts of the programs that are gone are still on my desktop so I know there still on the laptop and work fine but just have dissapeard from the programs menu.

Accesories, IE, outlook, WMP and some of mine are still there but there is loads thats vanished including my own software and some that were pre-installed.

I used system restore to go a few days back but there still missing.

any ideas whats going on?

[Soopafresh]

Attribute it to one of the four Universal Truths - "You're Gonna Have That"

[Tbag]

what????

[Soopafresh]

Sounds like the user registry got corrupted for the user name which you log in under. Desktop settings like wallpaper, icons, apps which sit in the start menu, are specific (for the most part) to the user.

Click on your C:\> drive -->Documents and Settings and look for two instances of your user name, one will probably have a "~" in it. That one might have some of your pre-crash desktop icon settings. Don't hold your breath, though.

Just drag your lost icons back into the start bar. A pain?, yes.

This stuff happens now and again, hence "You're Gonna Have that"

Other Universal Truths to computers:

"What are Ya Gonna Do..."

"It is what it is"