Start menu

I've seem to have lost all the programs listed in my start menu, I was doing
a bit of cleaning and deleted an empty directory and it wiped everything in
the "All Programs", well this is how we learn

When I drag and drop the programs I want to the menu the vanish I have to
logoff then when I log back on again they are there, what's the easiest way
to manage the menu? I've found the shortcut in c:/user/me but can't get in
to it

Any help please, thanks