I recently got a new computer (Dell) which came with Windows XP. Upon
set up, I had actually played some Hearts and Minesweeper. A few days
later, after having moved the computer to my home (from my office), I
notice that all the Windows games are gone. Upon clicking
'Start/ProgramFiles/Games' the folder comes up as "Empty". I tried
going to 'Start/Settings/ControlPanel', 'Add/Remove Programs',
'Add/Remove Windows Components', and selecting 'Accessories/Games',
but during the installation, it said that it could not find
"spider.exe" and asked for me to provide the path. I decided to repeat
the process with Spider excluded from the installation to see if the
other games existed, however none of them do. I have none of the
standard Windows games on my computer. I have searched through the
whole computer for the "spider.exe" file for example, to no avail.
Furthermore, I can not locate it on the XP installation CD which came
with the computer. This is truely a menial issue, however it disturbs
me as to how these games could have been permanently deleted without
my intention. Does anyone know what may have cause this to happen,
what else may have been affected, and how to get back the lost
applications. Thanks in advance.

I know how I lost my games, but it is a bit embarrassing. (created a
limited access account, dragged the games off the menu onto the
desktop under this account, deleted the account. Games not to be found
ANYWHERE)

Got them back by doing a System Restore. I picked the Restore Point
prior to stuffing around with accounts.

Games came back. Hoorah! Pinball, Minesweeper etc. I also have Windows XP.