Programs on Windows XP (Home) Start menu deleted from computer

[buckslayer80]

Can you still launch any of the missing apps from the start----all programs? If so then they're still there.

[matt2500]

Nope, they're not listed in start--all programs.

They're gone. I ran a search for calc.exe and sol.exe, and then went in via the command prompt into C:\Windows\system32\ and they're not there.

This one has really got me stumped. I can turn up nothing via Google. A couple of other people have reported having the Calculator simply disappear, but no one ever has suspected a virus or anything. It's impossible to actually delete any of these apps via the Start menu (you can just remove their shortcut on the menu bar), and my mom knows nothing about computers, so wouldn't be able to actually even mistakenly delete them. I'm at a loss.

[buckslayer80]

Log on as another user, and see if it changes anything. It doesn't sound like it will, but worth a try. If not, then you can always run an upgrade install and check disk and get all the missing stuff back.