Reinstalled Windows: Can't find my programs/registry corrupt.

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Guest

I just did a reinstall of Windows. None of my previously installed programs
are showing up when I go to the 'Start" menu or look in "Install/Uninstall
Programs" but when I look in 'My Computer' at the C: drive they are all
there. When I finished installing Windows I got a message saying there were
55 critical errors in my registry. I thought it said to go to Run and type in
'spw4a.com', but when I did that I got a message saying that file didn't
exist. So, how do I get my old programs back and how do I fix the registry?
 
I think the best course of action is to format the drive do a clean
install of WinXP and just reinstall the old programs.
 
YES, I agree. You need to format the HD and do a clean install. You
may need to delete the partition though otherwise windows will just try
to repair it and you won't know what to do or which keys to press when
asked to do.

hth
 
I was afraid of that. One more question. I have heard that it is a good idea
to partition your drive and install Windows in the partition. Is that true?
How big should the partition be (this is on a 14G hard drive)? I have two
hard drives and put my programs on one and my data on the other (so all my
digital pictures are safe on the other drive).
 
You can accomplish what you want to do during the Clean Install of
WinXP. A good partition size for XP would be 5G.
Remember to save all your important data before starting. And you can
check here for excellent instructions.
http://www.theeldergeek.com/ Check in the left column.
 
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