Dana Bell

This is a follow up from the previous Where's My Software entry. In that entry I covered how to copy program icons from one user to another.

Another issue I've come upon is not knowing what software was installed on the computer and available for use. If they don't have an icon on the desktop or in the Start Menu, you don't know they exist. You can find some of it by copying software shortcuts to your desktop or program files from other users.

Otherwise, you will have to search for it. One way would be to look in the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs option. Most major software is entered in this registry, but not all. Other programs and minor utilities don't really need to be registered, so you may have to manually scan your computer for new software. You can do this using Windows Explorer. If you don't know where Windows Explorer is, just use the Windows shortcut, by pressing the Windows key and E.

The files you are looking for include Applications, MS-DOS Applications and possibly Microsoft Common Console Documents.
If you have file extensions enabled, you may want to look for the file extensions: com, exe, and msc. The msc files are primarily administrator type files so you may want to forego those files. In most cases, if the program is not listed with a custom icon it is probably not something you can or should use directly.

Major places to look for files would be in

C:\ and first level folders under it
and
C:\Program Files\ and first level folders under it
Sometimes the executables may be found in folders named bin

System utilities can often be found in
C:\Windows\System32\ or the system32 folder in whatever your windows files are located, which could be WINNT, WINME, WINXP, etc.
There you should find things like Notepad, MSPaint, CompMgmt, and even Progman (from previous versions of windows)

As you scan through your computer, you could also try executing files that may contain data. If the file type is associated with a particular program, it activate the program for that particular file. Finally, you can use the Windows Search to find *.exe, *.com, and *.msc

When you find a program that you want to add to your program files, or desktop, Alt-drag it to create a shortcut where you want it. You could also use a temporary folder and move them around later. That's what I would do. When you have a collection of shortcuts you can then place them on your desktop, in your Start Menu or onto you Quick Launch toolbar. See my previous entry for how to manipulate these areas using Windows Explorer.