I am not sure if this is a common thing for vista but recently I
noticed that after installing games and regular software the programs
are nowhere to be found. in order for me to use them I have to go
into program files folder to launch the application....any thoughts?

During program installation do you select the option for:
Desktop icons
Quick Launch icons
Quick Launch toolbar can be larger than it appears. Are double
arrows to the right of the last icon?

Has the Start Menu been altered under Taskbar Properties to turn off recent
files or limit them?

When you select All Programs, is there a scroll bar?
New files are highlighted (unless feature turned off)

Once a file is found, you can right-click the file and select Pin to Start
Menu.

"Renato Cruzalegui" wrote:
[color=blue]
> I am not sure if this is a common thing for vista but recently I
> noticed that after installing games and regular software the programs
> are nowhere to be found. in order for me to use them I have to go
> into program files folder to launch the application....any thoughts?
>
>[/color]