windows startup folder issue.

Question

First of all hello my issue is that suddenly some of my program exes are gone and i cant search them up.Yesterday in the morning i can use it like whenever i need to launch a program i just go in search bar and press ''L'' and league of legends shows up.Press ''C'' and chrome shows up and someof program exes are gone too in my desktop.

I can search them and find them in their folder but not on desktop.In my opinion this issue started after i installed gameloop.I have riot vanguard and gameloop has on its own anti-cheat so maybe thats why?

Actually i dont know and i tried to recreate directory 2 times.And by the way riot vanguard services stopped and i couldnt restart it so i deleted and downloaded again.

Also LeaugeofLegends client .exe doesnt work i can only start lol exe from riot client.When i click lol.exe '''windows cannot access the specified device path or file you may not have appropriate permissions''' i get this warning message.Thanks for your help and my english is not the best sorry.

The directory is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs and all exes are gone.

Answer 1

The best option may be to check if your have a system restore point dated before you installed GameLoop to see if that resolves the problem.

Click your Start Button, then just type rstrui and press Enter, to open the System Restore utility.

Answer 2

The missing shortcuts and the League of Legends .exe issue are consistent with Start menu/shortcut entries being removed or hidden, or with security/optimization tools (including anti‑cheat, “optimizers,” or malware) changing file locations or permissions.

Use these steps to restore access to programs and fix missing shortcuts:

1. Restore missing Start menu/desktop entries

• If only some programs disappeared from Start → All Programs / search, recreate their shortcuts manually:
  1. Browse to the program’s installation folder (for example, where League of Legends or Chrome is installed).
  2. Right‑click the main .exe file → Create shortcut.
  3. Move that shortcut to:
     • Desktop (for a desktop icon), and/or
     • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs (on Windows 7/Vista) to make it appear under All Programs.
• If almost all Start menu entries disappeared but programs still run when searched, check if the Start Menu folder is hidden:
  1. In File Explorer, go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu.
  2. Right‑click an empty area → Properties.
  3. On the General tab, make sure Hidden is not checked. If it is, clear it and select OK.
  4. Approve any permission prompts.

2. Check Startup folders (in case something changed there) Some tools modify startup folders and shortcuts. Verify they are intact:

• Press Win + R, type shell:startup, press Enter to open the current user’s Startup folder.
• Press Win + R, type shell:common startup, press Enter to open the all‑users Startup folder.
• Confirm that only expected shortcuts are present. If a program should start with Windows and is missing, recreate its shortcut in the appropriate Startup folder.

3. Fix “Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file” for lol.exe That message usually means the shortcut or .exe points to a path that no longer exists or that access is blocked.

• Since the Riot Client can still start League of Legends, the game is installed and working; the standalone lol.exe shortcut or file is likely invalid or blocked.
• Delete any broken League of Legends desktop shortcut and recreate it from the working executable:
  1. Open the Riot Client.
  2. From the Riot/League install folder, locate the actual game launcher .exe that works when started via Riot Client.
  3. Right‑click that working .exe → Create shortcut.
  4. Move the shortcut to the Desktop and/or Start Menu Programs folder as needed.

4. If many programs vanished from All Programs If even the All Programs list itself is missing or heavily damaged, group policy or system changes may be involved. In that case:

• Check group policy settings related to Start menu visibility if available, or
• As a last resort, use System Restore to roll back to a point before the problem started, or repair Windows using installation media, as described in the referenced article.

If the issue started right after installing GameLoop and another anti‑cheat, also consider uninstalling GameLoop and then repairing or reinstalling affected applications (League of Legends, Chrome) so they recreate their shortcuts and file associations correctly.

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References:

• How to recover the programs disappeared from the All Programs of the Start Menu? - EeeKB
• Configure Startup Applications in Windows