Hello everyone, I just did a system restore and I didn't lose my files or anything, even in C\Program Files (x86) all the programs that I had installed before I did the system restore are there, but I can't use any of them. How can I use them again without having to reinstall everything or doing another system restore to some newer point? (I used my oldest system restore point and can't go to any newer one now) If I reinstall everything, how do I get rid of that wasted space of the old installations?

You can't use them. Your Registry doesn't contain the correct information to enable their use. You have to re-install them. There shouldn't be any 'wasted space'. the new installtion will simply overwrite the existing files.theWeissGuy

You can't use them. Your Registry doesn't contain the correct information to enable their use. You have to re-install them. There shouldn't be any 'wasted space'. the new installtion will simply overwrite the existing files.theWeissGuy

Hi I agree WeissGuy you can not use those programes becasue you restrord the computer to an earlier point. when you do the system restore it goes back to a date you chose , for instance if you install a software , configure any email client such as windows mail or windows live mail and after three to four days later you restore your computer before the day you installed, or configured email clinte will be gone. Neither you will get software back or email client. so you can not use those programes unfortunatly . Thanks & Best Regards Ankit Tyagi

Ok, so I'll just have to reinstall everything, thank you!

One of the problems with restore. Imaging often would have prevented it. BTW some 3rd party apps (like Acronis true iimage home) allow for live back-up. MS-MVP 2010, 2011, 2012 Sysnative.com Team ZigZag