Tim--

You don't have a Vista DVD because the company who makes it called MSFT is
gready and they forced the OEM named partner or whomever sold it to you not
to provide it. We will hear this thousands of times until Blackcomb and
then we'll hear it again. MSFT just can't get it into their heads to
provide the Win RE envivonment to its end user customers.

They don't feel committed and Mike Brannigan will jump up to the stage on
cue and say lol that the OEMs are committed. Ain't no one gives a damn who
takes your money if you get the way to use Win RE.

1) Try a restore point or points.
2) Try typing in search shell:name of shorcut <Enter>

CH



<tim.england@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1171848957.260821.75860@q2g2000cwa.googlegrou ps.com...
> Help.
>
> I cleaned up some shortcuts and folders in Start Menu/All Programs. I
> saw something called Programs that I didn't see before (and it was
> empty), so I deleted that, too. I then emptied the Recycle Bin.
>
> To my shock, I realized that the Programs folder was a shortcut to c:/
> ProgramData/Microsoft/Windows/Start/Programs, so now I have lost all
> the standard Windows shortcuts that I need -- like Accessories,
> Windows SUA, and Administrative Tools (!).
>
> I had done a full backup, but C:/ProgramData was not in the list of
> things that gets backed up.
>
> I do not have a Vista install CD, since I purchased the Vista Upgrade
> online, and downloaded it.
>
> How in god's name can I recover these important links?
>
> Desperate...
>