Member Avatar for Black Magic

Hey, I let my 5 year old brother on the computer before and now total chaos has happened, programs are loaded though not being shown on the start menu,

Heres a pic:

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg274/Bum_Fluff_2008/help.jpg

Please help a.s.a.p!

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Dani AI

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reported that programs are installed but do not appear on the Start menu. Since a child used the PC, the most likely causes are: Start Menu shortcuts were moved or deleted, shortcuts were placed in the wrong Start Menu folder (per-user vs. all-users), Start Menu settings were changed, or the user profile was partially corrupted. Below are focused, safe checks and fixes that work on Vista/7/8.

First, verify whether the shortcuts actually exist. Open Explorer and paste these paths into the address bar (or press Windows+R and paste them):

%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
%programdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

If the program shortcuts are missing from both folders, create them: find the program .exe, right-click -> Create shortcut, then move the shortcut into the appropriate Programs folder (per-user for only that account, ProgramData for everyone).

If shortcuts are present but not visible in the UI, try these in order:

  • Restart Explorer: open Task Manager, end explorer.exe, then File -> New Task -> type explorer.exe.
  • Check Start menu settings: right-click Start -> Properties -> Start Menu tab -> Customize and make sure the menu items and number of recent programs are not set to zero or hidden.
  • Run System File Checker from an elevated command prompt:
    sfc /scannow

If the problem is only in that user account, create a test account (Control Panel -> User Accounts). If Start works in the new account, copy the shortcuts from the old profile to the new one (only copy the contents of the Start Menu\Programs folders, not the whole profile). As a last resort, restore to a point before the issue (rstrui.exe) or rebuild the account. As noted, signature edits are handled in your forum profile if you still need to remove that.

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Member Avatar for Infarction

Please remove the link in your signature. I'd wager it violates the rules.

Member Avatar for Black Magic

I can't remove it now, theres no edit button, Can someone please help though????????

Member Avatar for Infarction

For your signature, you need to go to your profile to remove it. Thanks :)

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