"but my programs were no longer installed. To make a long story short, I went into my old Windows system folder and copied all of the files into the new Windows system folder"
That killed the current install of the OS.
You get to re-install the OS, and this time don't do that, but reinstall the programs you need.
Bob
Hello. I recently reinstalled Windows ME on my computer. The installation went smooth, however, when I restarted my computer, all of my files were still there, but my programs were no longer installed. To make a long story short, I went into my old Windows system folder and copied all of the files into the new Windows system folder. I restarted my computer, and now I have a BLANK GRAY SCREEN with nothing on it. No files, folders or anything. Can someone please help me?! Thanks.

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