Missing Com's icons in the system's tray

I was removing [in the Add/Remove Prog's] TWO items that I
was pretty certain related to my installed [but unused]
ISDN card. Got prompted to restart the machine and on
restart the COM's icons had disappeared from the systems
tray, and so had the ability of my external USB ADSL modem
to connect to the internet. Re-installed the Intel ADSL
modem software but still have lost the COM's icons in the
systems tray, and the desktop icon that would have started
my ADSL connection [dial-up like] to the internet now does
nothing and the 'target' string is greyed out.
I used to connect to the internet by clicking on this
icon, and now find I can only get there by running either
Internet Explorer or my e-mail client, and then hitting
the "Connect" option button that appears.
Regards,
Steve

Also, [and equally as worrying] if I try to open the
machine's "Network Connections" all I see is a big blank!!

Anyone any idea what I've done wrong, and more to the
point, how what can I do to get my system back
to "business as usual"??