Vista Restore leaves me with 2 copies of folder Program Files

[Robert Schuldenfrei]

Dear NG,

I did a stupid thing! I took the DVD X14-66101, Windows Vista Business
Includes Service Pack 1 and reloaded Vista when what I wanted to do was just
to add SP1. Realizing what I had done, I found Knowledge Base article:
933168, How to restore a computer to a previous Windows Installation after
you install Windows Vista.

The steps were simple and worked very well. After a reboot, my old system
was alive and almost well. Two things, that are probably related, are wrong.
1/ The Start menu is missing many installed programs. 2/ There are 2 copies
of the folder Program Files in the directory tree in Windows Explorer.

One of these folders, the one lower on the tree, seems to be the one
illustrated in the Start menu. The other one contains my missing programs.
Now I am not dead in the water. Everything that is launched by icons on the
desktop is working. That is why I can use Internet Explorer to pen this
message.

However, some very key software systems, like Norton 360, are not
operational and I would dearly like to restore them rather than reinstall
them. The missing systems are all in the second copy of Program Files, but I
rather doubt that the Registry knows about them.

Can anyone help me deal with this issue?

Thanks in advance,

Bob

 

[Mick Murphy]

Do yourself a favor!
Save your Data; reinstall vista!
Delete the existing Vista partition, formatt the drive, and reinstall it.

 

[Robert Schuldenfrei]

I was looking for an answer that might go something like this: copy
something in the correct version of Program Files to the newly created
version of Program Files. Make a few Registry alterations and everything
will be as it was. That maybe wishful thinking. What Mick is suggesting
would overwrite the 95% of Vista that is working just fine. And, if I were
to forget to backup something, well I don't even want to go there...