Folder "programs" in Start Menu - problem

My System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Checking "All Programs" in the Start Menu I found a folder called "programs"
which was empty, so I deleted it, but after that it was still there, so I
repeated deleting it unsuccessfully a couple of times, then I gave up...
Restarting Windows, I realized "All Programs" was empty and all my folders
and shortcuts were not there!!! It's really annoying!!! I restore the system
to a previous point but nothing!!! I tried to check the recycle bin but it
was already empty, so no way to recover this trouble-maker folder "programs".
Please help me to recover my start menu as before!!!
Thank you in advance!!!
I found this information related in the Microsoft website:
Article ID : 939041
Last Review : July 25, 2007
Revision : 1.0