Vista - Lost programs when installing Vista

Hi..I installed Vista over a perfectly stable, configured version of XP. No
problems installing. Program forced me to take a custom installation because
it is on a tablet PC. Now, I cannot find any of my programs. I have found
my old folder of program files but cannot get windows office 2007 to run.
Cannot load my preferences, emails, contacts, all my old software...etc.
Very frustrating. Can anyone help?

Doug wrote:
> Hi..I installed Vista over a perfectly stable, configured version of
> XP. No problems installing. Program forced me to take a custom
> installation because it is on a tablet PC. Now, I cannot find any of
> my programs. I have found my old folder of program files but cannot
> get windows office 2007 to run. Cannot load my preferences, emails,
> contacts, all my old software...etc. Very frustrating. Can anyone
> help?
=======================================
Maybe the following article will offer something useful:

(932912) How to restore your personal files after
you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932912/en-us

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

Hi Doug,

A custom install is basically a clean install to a new folder. Programs and
settings are generally not migrated into the installation by this process.
You would have to reinstall programs from their original installation media.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Doug" <Doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5C65DE4D-A274-4B12-BB92-246D5964FA2E@microsoft.com...
> Hi..I installed Vista over a perfectly stable, configured version of XP.
> No
> problems installing. Program forced me to take a custom installation
> because
> it is on a tablet PC. Now, I cannot find any of my programs. I have
> found
> my old folder of program files but cannot get windows office 2007 to run.
> Cannot load my preferences, emails, contacts, all my old software...etc.
> Very frustrating. Can anyone help?

Thanks. I was afraid of that. Do you have any suggestions on how to find
all my Outlook folders / contacts / emails?


"Rick Rogers" wrote:

> Hi Doug,
>
> A custom install is basically a clean install to a new folder. Programs and
> settings are generally not migrated into the installation by this process.
> You would have to reinstall programs from their original installation media.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>
> "Doug" <Doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:5C65DE4D-A274-4B12-BB92-246D5964FA2E@microsoft.com...
> > Hi..I installed Vista over a perfectly stable, configured version of XP.
> > No
> > problems installing. Program forced me to take a custom installation
> > because
> > it is on a tablet PC. Now, I cannot find any of my programs. I have
> > found
> > my old folder of program files but cannot get windows office 2007 to run.
> > Cannot load my preferences, emails, contacts, all my old software...etc.
> > Very frustrating. Can anyone help?
>
>

"Doug" <Doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:316C7D9F-C47D-462B-A413-F19CD5E37AEE@microsoft.com...
>
> Thanks. I was afraid of that. Do you have any suggestions on how to find
> all my Outlook folders / contacts / emails?
>
>


Did you create a backup before you installed Vista? Depending on the program
used to create the backup you may be able to selectively restore the Outlook
..pst file then load it into Outlook in Vista.

If you don't have a backup then the .pst file may be in the windows.old
folder. Your old user accounts should be in the windows.old folder in the
documents and settings folder. Look under your old user profile for the .pst
file. It is normally here.

windows.old\documents and settings\user_name\local settings\application
data\outlook

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932912

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca