C:WINDOWS\Installer is empty - How?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rick S
  • Start date Start date
R

Rick S

I have a 2-month old Dell computer. Suddenly I lost
icons for most applications that Dell had pre-installed.
They were missing on the Desktop, Start Menu, and in
Folders - replaced with a generic file icon. I went to
Properties and clicked Change Icon, and got an error
message "Windows cannot find the file %SystemRoot%
\Installer\blahblahblah\MyProgram.exe". I tried a System
Restore, but it did not fix the problem. I searched for
this path in the Registry, and it pointed to the
C:\WINDOWS\Installer folder. That folder exists, but it
was EMPTY! I had replaced the hard drive a few weeks
ago, so I reinstalled that drive and found numerous files
and folders in the Installer folder. I copied that
folder over to my new hard drive, rebooted, and the icons
reappeared.

So my problem is fixed for now - but it was just luck,
because I normally only back up data files. It was pure
luck that I had a copy of the Installer folder on an old
hard drive.

I want to prevent a recurrence. How did this happen, and
what can I do to prevent it again in the future? I had
planned to reformat the old drive for another computer -
after I do that, how can I recover if the Installer
folder is deleted again?
 
I'm pretty well-protected. I have NAV check for updates
daily, realtime protection is enabled, and I do complete
system scans a couple times a week. Just to be sure, I
re-scanned my hard drive and it found nothing.

This is very puzzling.
 
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