How do I get back my install folder after taking ownership mishap.

I am running windows 7 professional 64bit and I was wrongly advised to take ownership of my hard drive.

I am not having any software issues per say, just most of my icons now are either blank or default windows icon. Everything opens on the correct programs and windows is running fine except it keeps trying to an update that will not apply when i shut down.

I have searched the forums here and done the icon database thing etc but now after much searching I have discovered that taking ownership somehow corrupted my install folder. Its still there but obviously not complete because of the icon issue and I am led to believe that if I want to uninstall something I may encounter problems.

I found a system restore explorer program ((link was taken out so the rest of my post made no sense.))

I tried to install it but it keeps saying it needs to be on the host hard drive to install even when I try and install on the default path.

So, how do I undo the damage? Can I change permissions of the hard drive again? and if so what too? How do I retrieve my install folder prior to the mess up and put things right?