I need help, How do I get all my programs back in the start menu, under programs, it says empty? Please help me someone. Thanks

Instructions will depend on which version of Windows you are running ..... and whether you can find where your shortcuts have gone.

Are you running Windows 95/98/ME or 2000/XP?

Click the Start Menu, then Find or Search, then Files Or Folders. Get it to search for Accessories. That will hopefully retrieve the Accessories folder that is 'under' the Programs menu so you can see where it has gone.

Thanks for your reply. The version of windows is 98, I tried what you said, and it said, no file found. How could this be?

Do you have any up-to-date anti-virus / spyware / firewall software running? If you do (which you ought to as you use the Internet), run a full scan with whatever you've got and see if it detects and/or fixes any nasties that your system might have been infected with. It sounds like your Start Menu shortcuts have been deleted.

That's a point - are they in the Recycle Bin?

As I'm running Windows 2000, which is different to Windows 98, I struggled to give you something good (and universal) to search for.

Try going back to Start Menu > Find and do a search for files named *.LNK on your C:\ drive (or My Computer if you have that option).

Does it find your missing shortcuts?