Windows.Old to Windows - Do or Do Not?

[PallElendro]

I've recently refreshed my PC to repair my system files, which has resulted in my applications being wiped. I've noticed that the Windows.old in the C:\ folder has my old Program Files in x64 and x86. Is it advisable to copy everything from there back to my current Windows folder?

[factotum]

Well, you'd need to copy them to the root of C:--Program Files does not normally live inside the Windows folder. However, it's not advisable. Not only will copying the folder back not restore access to the applications (you'd have to manually set up all the shortcuts again), they're not all that likely to work even if you did it, because all the configuration in the Registry they rely on will also have gone. You would be better off just reinstalling everything--in the long run it'll be quicker and it's far more likely to work.

However, I'm not sure what you actually did when you "refreshed" your PC. Did you actually reinstall Windows? It sounds like that's what you did?

[PallElendro]

Yes, I used a second partition using the Windows 8.1 Disk Utility in the attempt to repair Windows system files at the cost of applications, but not the data.

[LokeyITP]

Depends on if it wiped the registry or not. Pick a common application and check for its registry entries, if they don't exist, it'll be troublesome. If they do, easy to throw everything back and auto-generate shortcuts/menu entries.

[PallElendro]

I've managed to clean out the registry, which appears that it solved the issues of having bad pointers when attempting to install programs. Reinstallation appears to be running smoothly otherwise.