I lost all my program on start menu and word/excel docs

[nowitsgone]

A couple days ago I lost all my programs that are listed on my start menu. I can find them in Explore, but when I bring up Word or Excel ALL of my old documents are gone. I went to Help and Support Center, then to system restore, but the window was blank. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

[nanosani]

Do you mean the recently used programs or All Programs on the start menu (XP)

[nowitsgone]

Do you mean the recently used programs or All Programs on the start menu (XP)

The old documents in the programs. The new documents that I have used in the last couple of days are fine.

[nanosani]

You can just drag and drop the programs you mostly use in the list ... they wont go away. I think you cleared the most recently used documents folder .............

[nowitsgone]

Thanks... but what and where do I "drag and drop?"
No old programs are showing up in the start menu, nor are the documents that I have written over the last two years in my Word or Excel Program.
Thanks for you help, I do appreciate it very much

[Catweazle]

Use My Computer' or Windows Explorer, navigate to the folders where you stored them, and check that they're still present.

If you're accessing documents from over a 2 year period then the 'Recent Documents' thingy on the Start menu is a next to useless way to access them anyway.