There is something weird happening with my Windows XP

This is Odd ever since I've updated my Windows XP, programs have dissapeared from the programs menu. Before I updated all the usual programs that are usually in the programs menu such as the Internet Explorer icon, Outlook Express icon, Windows Media Player icon Etc.. were all present on the All programs menu. But now they have vanished into thin air or somewhere Like I mentioned earlier, they were there before I went to updates,and downloaded all available updates, where have they gone and how do I get them back Also I just installed adobe reader from adobe.com,and the red adobe icon dissapeared from the programs menu after a reboot also

 

I think you should be able to send shortcuts to desktop from Programs Folder then drag and drop to C:\Documents and Settings\"USERNAME"\Start Menu\Programs to get them back.

 

What type of Desktop are you using? If you using Classic and you switch to the default Start Menu then desktop icons dissapear. It might of reverted back to this Desktop style.

 

Potential.

 

Strange occurences for sure, however Global the potential you posted is impossible as my comp wasent connected to the internet at the time, I'd done a fresh install and hadnt installed ethernet drivers yet.
Odd that this never happened on any of my older machines, and I got to thinking something crazy earlier, but impossible O'm not too sure if it is or not, what I was thinking is this:...

Just what if on the offchance that the PC I installed XP on is too powerful to run Xp's Architecture I started thinking this after it happened on 3 more consecutive XP installations, all with different XP disks, so I doubt its the XP disk but what if what if its actually that

AMD Quad-Core Phenom 9000+ processor with 2.3Ghz with 4GB DDR2 800Mhz RAM Processor 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) GIGABYTE NVidia GeForce 8600GT Graphics Accelerator.

I noticed after downloading the XP drivers for Graphics that the desktop was kind of squishy, like it had been painted with a brush in places However the Graphics are Razor Sharp with Vista

Now you can call me crazy,but when I had my P4 Machine a few years back running XP with 3.62Ghz of kick,back then everything was just great,but running XP on this Beast is like eating Yellow snow I'm back with Vista as XP was doing my head in,and the graphic display just killed my eyes

 

Check the unused Icon cleanup wizard settings. Also sometimes a icon won't load for some strange reason.

 

XP runs fine on SkullTrail, so hardware isn't the problem.

 

Ok...this is almost not worth posting.......none the less, did you try one or even two reboots? That simple task has often fixed little hiccups for me.
BTW.Thanks for the link GF....nice to have.

 

Crazy question, I rebooted a Gazillion times till I got sick of doing so. I checked with my pc shop and they have never come across anything like the dissapearing icons/programs etc.. As for the Graphics, they sugested checking screen resolution, but I'm running at Maximum Res I'm thinking of buying a New Graphics card an ASUS 512MB DDR3

http://www.asus.com.au/products.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=442&l4=0&model=1938&modelmenu=1

$450 AUD

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137069 try that link or you might have corrupted icon cache. try creating a new user account and booting into that. that Asus site always so slow at most times. it can be painful trying to get a driver. i hope you not buying a graphics card just for that problem.

Best to get
Leadtek
BFG
Gainward

over an Asus.

 

Main reason for new faster Graphics card is the PC Games I want to play... Lost:Via Domus and Company of Heroes:Opposing Fronts which is DirectX 10
Interesting also Microsoft have been aware of the dissapearing icons for some time.

 

great the GT is one to go for. that Asus is overclocked. for £20 pounds more i go for EVGA. it runs faster and cooler.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=512-P3-N808-AR

 

Hi,

Did you try to directly explore the content of the directory All users\Start Menu\ ?
May be your shortcuts are not physically deletted but not displayed in your start menu.

Regards,

MaB