Restoring Windows XP programs after format

"To get them working you need to restore the registry and possibly a few environment variables to the state they were in prior to your reinstallation of Windows.

While you might be able to search the internet and find these values the simplest solution is probably going to be to reinstall - I suppose it depends on how many applications you have (or should I say had) installed.

Have you tried just double clicking on the exe in the Program Files directory? It might not work for all applications, but some might run, and reset their registry settings - then all you need to do is add a shortcut to your desktop or the All Programs menu. Of course you won't be able to uninstall these applications easily.

Some installers might detect the presence of the folder (assuming you installed it into the default location) and offer a Repair option which should just update the registry in your case, so that might save a little time.

Once you've got everything reinstalled you should do something we all should do (but often don't) and back up your registry."