Made A Real Cockup, Please Help

[mrdee 1]

I used ZSoft Uninstaller 2.4.1 in Windows 7 (Ultimate, Full version), it worked with no problem.However, when uninstalling 1 program, it asked me "This program is in the "C:\Programs\" folder, do you wish to remove that folder?", it also said (very scary) "This is irreversible".With 1 second of distraction, I accidentally clicked "Yes".Now, Windows still boots normally, the folder in question is stil there, all the things that were in there are stil there, but hardly one program runs anymore.i have tried a number of System Restores, the restores were successful, but the problem still exists.Can anyone please tell me how I can fix this without having to reformat and save me a lot of time, hassle and embarrasment?(If that is at all possible).Thanks in advance.

[rob86 2]

I'm not famiilar with ZSoft Uninstaller and how it works or what it deletes. Could you elaborate on "hardly one program runs anymore" ? Are there errors or do the programs just not pop up? What happens when you try to re-install one of the programs that doesn't work anymore? Does it fix that program at least?Does ZSoft keep any logs? Sometimes these utility applications keep logs of changes. It might give you a clue as to what really happened..

[mrdee 1]

Well, all my icons are still on the desktop, all programs are still there, but when I try to run a program, I tried Adobe Audition, it opened, but just went on and on trying to load a project (had to stop it via Task Manager), Cubase says there is no dongle in the system, AVG antivirus does not open, the 1st time I opened Windows Live Mail, an installer screen came up, but it seems to run now, browsing seems to work in Google Chrome, and as for ZSoft itself, it says it can't display in English anymore, but the list of programs still comes up.Have not been able to try for log files (I am posting from my laptop now, by the way).Some programs seem to open up normally, others do not open at all, and some run very erratically, see above.

Edited November 24, 2009 by mrdee (see edit history)

[The Simpleton 2]

Wow that's weird.... You're saying the system restores are not working, so I'm making a wild guess that something might have gone wrong in the registry (wild guess!) I'm saying this because if all the programs are still intact and are just not opening then something must have gone wrong with the functioning of the OS itself, which brings us to the registry. If this is the case (better wait till someone more experienced comments on this), then you could try using a registry cleaner to try and remove any errors in the registry and that might just work...

[rob86 2]

It sounds like there was some deleting done in Program Files. You say Program Files still exists, but that's most likely because _everything_ can't be deleted as it can't delete it when it's running (even in the background, like part of Cubase's dongle stuff). It would explain why some programs still work, but poorly. I can't remember how much Windows vital stuff resides in Program Files (I'm on Ubuntu, can't check), but I think that folder might really just be for Programs, which would explain why Windows still boots up and works normal and the only problem is the applications. Nothing important to the OS was touched. This would be better-than-nothing news since it would mean fixing it would be more time consuming than difficult, just re-install the software and see if it works.It's not looking too good for a quick fix, though. There are some un-delete programs that can restore deleted files, and if you're lucky, they might be able to undelete some stuff. I wouldn't be too hopeful about that though. I've tried them a few times and they don't work so great, but since you only recently deleted stuff, it might work.As for the registry, since you're obviously using some utility apps, you might have used a registry cleaner already in the past? These almost always make backups of the registry, and might be able to restore it. BUT, I'm not sure if I would rush to do this, because restoring to a month old registry might things worse, and more chaotic. ZSoft may not have even done any damage to the registry.I personally don't think a registry cleaner would be a good idea right now. Their main purpose is to delete registry entries that it deems unimportant, and I don't think deleting more stuff is what you need. It might make things worse.

Edited November 24, 2009 by rob86 (see edit history)

[The Simpleton 2]

I personally don't think a registry cleaner would be a good idea right now. Their main purpose is to delete registry entries that it deems unimportant, and I don't think deleting more stuff is what you need. It might make things worse.

Yup..I take back my earlier suggestion. It seems that registry cleaners can end up doing more bad than good

[k_nitin_r 8]

@The SimpletonHi!Some Windows Registry tools do more than just clean up entries. They also make and restore backups or diagnose problems with the registry. However, the original problem seems to mention about files that were deleted in the Program Files directory rather than something missing in the Windows Registry. I could be wrong, however your suggestion of using registry cleaners is not all that bad - some of them do have diagnostic capabilities too.

[The Simpleton 2]

@The Simpleton
Hi!

Some Windows Registry tools do more than just clean up entries. They also make and restore backups or diagnose problems with the registry. However, the original problem seems to mention about files that were deleted in the Program Files directory rather than something missing in the Windows Registry. I could be wrong, however your suggestion of using registry cleaners is not all that bad - some of them do have diagnostic capabilities too.

Hi One look at the article about registry cleaners on Wikipedia (I've given the link above) is enough to scare anyone into staying away from them - the list of cons is more than the pros and that's why I hurriedly wrote again that it's not recommended to use a cleaner. Coming back to the original problem, I wonder how uninstalling one program could affect the others - I mean, if the programs are present and are not working that could mean that all the .exe's of those programs are missing, isn't it? Could ZSoftUninstaller have done anything like that? Hmm I'm beginning to wonder about the need for a separate uninstaller in the first place....

[Baniboy 3]

The windows system recovery only recovers the settings and registry, not files.In your case I suggest you use a file recovery tool. If you uninstaller hasn't overwritten the files, they are recoverable. When you delete something, it stills exists on the drive, the only change is that it is marked free to write on. So, if you haven't reinstalled windows yet or done something really strange to your drive, you can recover the program files that were deleted and you should be able to run fine. Additionally if you can't do the thing I mentioned above, reinstall the OS or install the software that you had installed before again, and you should run fine. But make sure you install everything back.

[mrdee 1]

Well, that's it then folks.As Julius Caesar would have said: "Alea Iacta Est" (The die has been cast).I first tried to re-install my software, some worked, some did not, some would not even let me install it properly.So, I went for the only alternative thatwas left.I reformatted, re-installed Windows and then re-installed all my software (except ZSoft Uninstaller, of course. ).A big thank you to everyone who contributed.