Problems with programs disappearing
Hi guys I've been using Windows 7 for a few days now and its turning out to be pretty great. I am having a recurring problem though. For some reason, after i install a program, sometimes a few days later it will no longer be on the computer. The entry still exists in the start menu and in "programs and features" but if i try to run it from the start menu it says that: """ The item ___________.exe that this shortcut refers to has been changed or moved, so this shortcut will no longer work properly. """ Do you want to delete this shortcut? So i go to reinstall it and the install program says that the program is still on the computer and that i need to uninstall it first before i can reinstall. So then i go to "programs and features" and click uninstall . It then says: """ An error occured while trying to uninstall ____________________. It may have already been uninstalled. """ Would you like to remove _________________ from the Programs and Features list? .. now I have managed to uninstall some things successfully with the help of the program Revo Uninstaller, as long as i dont remove the entry from the programs and features list, however this has occured with Windows Live Messenger and using Revo Uninstaller to search for all the registry entries and folder etc will be annoying because it could remove my chat logs etc etc. Is anyone else having this problem with Windows 7 and has anyone come up with a fix if so? as a short term problem fix, can anyone tell me how i can remove windows live messenger manually so that i can reinstall it? the installer programs all error because they reckon its still on my system. I am running Windows 7 6.1.7100 Build 7100 and my system configurations is as follows: OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Version 6.1.7100 Build 7100 OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation System Name JEREMYSLAPTOPW7 System Manufacturer LENOVO System Model 776773M System Type X86-based PC Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU L7500 @ 1.60GHz, 1601 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s) BIOS Version/Date LENOVO 7SET37WW (1.23 ), 12/03/2009 SMBIOS Version 2.4 Windows Directory C:\Windows System Directory C:\Windows\system32 Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1 Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7100.0" Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 3.00 GB Total Physical Memory 2.97 GB Available Physical Memory 2.00 GB Total Virtual Memory 5.95 GB Available Virtual Memory 4.95 GB Page File Space 2.97 GB any help would be appreciated. Apologies for the long post. Jeremy
June 11th, 2009 2:18pm

Jeremy - Have you visited Windows Update yet? There was a bug in the RC that had to do with security and how certain permissions weren't installed properly on the hard drive - this might possibly be causing things to seemingly "vanish". If you can, check the properties of the shortcuts to these missing apps and find out exactly where they're supposed to have been installed. Then open up a copy of Windows Explorer and navigate to that location. If the files ARE where they're supposed to be, then try to click into the folder. If you get an error about permissions or other security related issues, you'll most definitely need that patch - ASAP.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
June 11th, 2009 2:38pm

Hi there Thanks for the suggestion. I have been religiously "Windows Update"-ing and nothing seems to have fixed it recently. I have tried to find the targets of the shortcuts, but it appears that the whole program directory has disappeared. This means the shortcut is no longer targetting anything and the uninstall process does not work because the uninstall program doesnt exist.. and there are no files to uninstall; only registry entries i would assume. Its very strange. Dont think many people have issues with MSN messenger, so i cant seem to find any "manual uninstall" procedures, which exist en-masse for antivirus software and the like, so I'm thinking im pretty stuffed, short of reinstalling Windows 7.
June 11th, 2009 3:02pm

Jeremy - Most peculiar. I do have some questions - do you shut down regularly at night? or do you keep your computer on all the time? Have you had to do a system restore at any point around the time the programs disappeared? Is it only Windows Live Messenger? Did you install any other apps (Win Live Mail, Photo Gallery, etc...) with Live messenger? And if so, are they still where they should be?
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
June 11th, 2009 3:26pm

The majority of the time I like to Hibernate my laptop for quick start-up etc, but i have been sure to restart the computer after any updates have been installed. I have not performed any system restores on this system as of yet. I bought a new hard drive and installed windows 7 onto it fresh. I have encountered the problem with a number of programs. Windows Live Messenger (I didnt install any other "Live" apps), PCTools Internet Security (i did find out later that it is not compatible with Windows 7, though that does not explain the deletion from the hard drive....) plus a number of ThinkVantage apps (eg. System Update, ThinkVantage productivity centre, Tablet Shortcut Menu, PowerManager (though the powermanager widget remains... ??) and AccessConnections (though that also never worked. Don't think it is compatible yet) I'm not on the laptop at this time, as i need messenger, but i'll just go boot it up and see if anything else has gone missing lately. thanks for your help. I suspect this may result in the solution being "reinstall windows". I decided to post here because it seems no one else is having the problem. Maybe it is just my install....
June 11th, 2009 3:38pm

Jeremy - Hmm.. OK.. You haven't tried a system restore as yet - what if you did restore the sytem to a point where you know for sure the apps were where they belong? I'm also wondering if hibernation may have anything to do with this.. There have been a number of issues with it - mostly hardware not coming back to life, not being able to reconnnect to network servers, etc... It might be worth trying a System Restore before you blow the whole drive out... Let us know how it goes...
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
June 11th, 2009 3:44pm

Hi all, I seem to have come across the same problem as Mdclxvis although with a slight difference as of today there are no program files at all listed any more in the start menu. Until recently there were around 100 program file links to all those programs I had installed since day one of Win7 RC which worked just great so far. But now, there is no program listed any more in the start menu under "all programs". The programs are still on the computer but not accessible through the start menu. I also come across a huge number of issues regarding permissions and so. I also can not access the user/start menu folder any more due to permisions restriction - not even as admin. So I feel that maybe this is somehow related. Of course I have checked the Win Update function which I agreed to have checked and updated and installed automatically so far. When I run the Win Update function manually it does not show any further important update available except those 31 language files (which I certainly do not need). So I wonder wehter there is a problem with the permissions although the Win Update function is not showing any fix for it. Does anybody know the exact name of the update file which fixes the permission issue? KN??? I have also tried to restore my system to the status quo as of yesterday - a time when I know for sure that the program files were still listed under "all programs" in the start menu - which now is completely blank apart from the most recent used files. But this did not work either as the system restore could not take place because of "missing files" ... So I am quite stuck right now but do not want to go through the complete reinstallation procedure if not absolutely necessary. I feel that there has to be a bug fix re the permissions which probably will help me as well. Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks in advance Karenina
June 14th, 2009 8:00pm

Same problem although i believe its a worm as all the programs that have disappeared have been important and expensive programs such a Adobe Photo Shop CS4 Pro and ATi Control center as well as AMD Overdrive, I hope somebody will find the problem soon as I cant afford to have this happening because I program apps and games and depend greatly on some of these programs. I managed to reinstall all these but i'm afraid this may strike again on something vital. (Something to add: the programs that are being corrupted have been in alphabetical order(file Folder Wise) Like AMD, Adobe, ATi and so on. System Specs: AMD Phenom II X4 940 oc'd to 3.6GHz 6GB DDR2-800 Ram Windows 7 RC Ultimate x64 build 7100 ATi Radeon HD 4870 on PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot 320GB Western Digital Caviar HDD SATA (This PC was custom built by me from hardware bought new online and is not brand name hardware such as Dell or HP) PS: i'm running both Firefox and Norton internet security along with IOBit security 360 maybe all these anti-Malware programs is the issue?
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
October 1st, 2009 12:44am

Same problem although i believe its a worm as all the programs that have disappeared have been important and expensive programs such a Adobe Photo Shop CS4 Pro and ATi Control center as well as AMD Overdrive, I hope somebody will find the problem soon as I cant afford to have this happening because I program apps and games and depend greatly on some of these programs. I managed to reinstall all these but i'm afraid this may strike again on something vital. (Something to add: the programs that are being corrupted have been in alphabetical order(file Folder Wise) Like AMD, Adobe, ATi and so on. System Specs: AMD Phenom II X4 940 oc'd to 3.6GHz 6GB DDR2-800 Ram Windows 7 RC Ultimate x64 build 7100 ATi Radeon HD 4870 on PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot 320GB Western Digital Caviar HDD SATA (This PC was custom built by me from hardware bought new online and is not brand name hardware such as Dell or HP) PS: i'm running both Firefox and Norton internet security along with IOBit security 360 maybe all these anti-Malware programs is the issue? I have the same problem on my system. I have repeatedly reinstalled ADOBE CS4 Design Standard on my PC (HP COMPAQ dc7700 2.16 GHz 2 GB RAM WinXP Professional ATI X1300 Video card 1TB Seagate SATA2 HDD). It only started when I installed CS4 Design Standard. It never happened before when I only had Photoshop 7.0. Now, ALL Adobe programs disappear regularly (although not at the same time). Sometimes, photoshop CS4 will disappear only. Other times, it is a mix of Adobe software like Adobe Bridge CS4, etc. I repeated performed a Hard Disk scan via Norton systemworks and the built-in ScanDisk utilities. I also scanned the whole hard disk for Virus, malware, etc. without any problems. I agree with you that it seems to delete programs or program groups (now, entire program FOLDERS) according to alphabetical order. Almost all my Adobe programs disappeared. It somehow stopped at AVG folder (the free antivirus AVG v8.5). Everything down the line after AVR seems fine. I also reinstalled WinXP Professional with Service Pack 3. The same problems still happens. To troubleshoot this problem, I am planning to install Adobe CS4 Design Standard on another PC and see if this problem exists. Hopefully, we can find a solution to this since I do not fancy re-installing the ADOBE CS4 programs EVERY TIME I need to use it :-( Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated. Thanks !
October 11th, 2009 5:02am

i havn that same problem... """ The item ___________.exe that this shortcut refers to has been changed or moved, so this shortcut will no longer work properly. """ Do you want to delete this shortcut? so what is the solution?... pls help me...
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 18th, 2010 4:49am

hi im yogs i had a serious problem... can you help pls... """ The item ___________.exe that this shortcut refers to has been changed or moved, so this shortcut will no longer work properly. """ Do you want to delete this shortcut? this bugs gve to me a bad day always... can you help pls... THANKS
August 18th, 2010 4:54am

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics