Hello thanks for the help but this did not solve the problem.
I think I may have a programing or missing file. When I go to my programs
link they all come up blank but show the little file on them to the left. All
the programs are on the computer but are not accessable from start menu.
Very unusual problem.
Is this system on a network? One where the network administrator may have
disabled the start menu? This is a policy setting and the administrator
would have to enable the start menu again.
Were you tweaking Windows or using a registry cleaner before this happened?
If yes, what changes were made? Did the program have an "Undo" function
that could be used to revert the changes?
Is it possible that someone reorganized the start menu? Placing all
shortcuts in their start menu folders instead of the All Users folders? If
yes, move needed shortcuts into those folders or copy the shortcuts into
your start menu folders.
If you create a new shortcut to a program, does it work? Can you place it
in your start menu folders? After placing it there, does it show in the
start menu and work?
Did anything unusual happen before this change on your system? Has the
system been scanned for viruses or other malware?
When you try one of these broken shortcuts, what happens?
Do you have any system restore points that pre-date the beginning of this
problem?
MVP Kelly Theriot has some interesting tweaks for the start menu on her web
pages here:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
There's a few that might help but until it's better determined why the
start menu is not working correctly, I hesitate to recommend any of them.
You're welcome to take a look at them though. Use Edit > Find from your
browser window and search for "start." Use the "Find Next" button to work
your way through all of them. It's entirely your decision on whether to try
any of them or not.
