Add Remove Programs Dysfunction

I had to do a recovery on windows xp today, and thankfully that much worked - programs files all there... however, when i go to control panels to remove some of my programs, i see that none are listed except the xp smorgasboard. my personally installed programs show up in all the usual places except this - programs, on the desktop, i've opened a few, but they're not in the add-remove list. any takers?