All program shortcuts gone from Start Menu

  • Thread starter Thread starter Doug
  • Start date Start date
D

Doug

Good morning, I hope someone can help me with this one. My
boss turned his computer on today and all his program
shortcuts were gone from his start menu. We were able to
find them through Windows Explorer and launch each program
but what happened to the shortcuts. Is this a possible
virus? I keep all our computers up to date with the latest
virus definitions but this one has got me stumped. Could
it be that someone physically removed them???

Thanks for any help...

Doug
 
What happens if you logon as a new user? You can create a new user account
in Control Panel|Users and Passwords
 
Are these folders empty?
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs
\Documents and Settings\%username%\Start Menu\Programs
 
Dave,

The folders are not empty, but they certainly don't have
the shortcuts that are normally there. The shortcuts that
are there are:

Accessories, Startup, IE, Outlook Express and Windows
Media Player.

These are all standard I assume.

Doug
-----Original Message-----
Are these folders empty?
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs
\Documents and Settings\%username%\Start Menu\Programs

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

Doug said:
Dave,

If I log on using the administrator account the same thing
happens, no program shortcuts... I haven't tried creating
a new user yet. I will and post my results.

Doug
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
 
Are ALL the shortcuts gone or just for some programs?...i'm assuming the
standard shortcuts like accessories etc. are still there. Why I ask is i'm
wondering whether or not you've logged onto the computer as a different
user...hence different start menu...check that. the user may have also been
corrupted, you might see user.WINDOWS has been created..i've seen that
happen before. In that case, you'd have to use the import user settings
wizard to get them back.
of course the start menu shortcuts could have been deleted manually by
someone....

Simon...signing off ;)
 
Thanks Dave...

-----Original Message-----
These may help.

HOW TO: Restore a User Profile (Q314045)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en- us;314045

How to Identify a Damaged User Profile and Create a New Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-
Click to expand...
US;q305506


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

Doug said:
Dave,

The folders are not empty, but they certainly don't have
the shortcuts that are normally there. The shortcuts that
are there are:

Accessories, Startup, IE, Outlook Express and Windows
Media Player.

These are all standard I assume.

Doug
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
 
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