Accessories Folder Missing from Start Menu

Anonymous
2011-01-14T20:16:03+00:00

Hello - I just purchased a new cpu with Windows 7 Home Premium installed.  When I first started using the system I know that the traditional Accessories Folder which usually includes System Tools and other files/folders was on my Start Menu.  After using the maching for a bit of time and installing many new programs I noticed that the folder is missing.  Is there a way to get this back on the Start Menu without a system restore as that will cause me to loose my newly installed programs from what I have read on other threads.  Thanks for your feedback.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2011-01-14T20:25:34+00:00

You are correct that System Restore may cause you to have to reinstall your recently added programs.  Here's one possible alternative:

Restore Previous Versions of a File or Folder

1 - Click your Start button, then right-click the "All Programs" link at the bottom.  Choose "Open All users".

2 - In the window that opens, right-click the Programs folder and choose "Restore Previous Versions". The Properties window may take a moment to load in all the available old copies of that folder.  Cool Fact: These previous versions come from the same place as System Restore backups, except these let you restore individual files instead of your entire system :)

3 - Click a old version of the file from a date when you know the Accessories folder was still there, then click "open" and look around.  From there you can right-click the backup copy of Accessories, and paste it into your actual Programs folder (that you opened in step 1).

Hope this helps.


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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-01T21:25:53+00:00

    I must be thick. Where is programdata?

    I right click the start icon and get Explorer and select OS -C and there is no ProgramData there.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-08-01T19:34:10+00:00

    Try this:

    1. Go to Start/Run (or just press Windows+R to show the Run box)
    2. Type shell:programs and click OK

    Now your folder will open showing you the contents of your personal start menu.  Remember this doesn't show globally-installed shortcuts (programs common to everyone).  But that has been the case since Windows 95 so I won't worry about it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-08-01T19:21:50+00:00

    I can go to C:\ - also Users, also user name\ but I can't find App Data.

    what am I doing wrong?

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-04-21T13:22:19+00:00

    It did the trick for me too. Thanks a lot buddy. You rock. :)

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