Jun302011

Where have my Windows XP Pro desktop icons gone?

jerry jones asks:

All my desktop items, i.e. icon files etc. are gone, but the Start Menu and Taskbar is ok. The Admin login is ok. This problem is only user id.



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3 Answers -

0 votes

Tina

July 1, 2011

Jerry,

maybe the icons are merely hidden? I assume you only had shortcuts on your desktop.

Try to right-click the desktop and select > Arrange Icons By and see whether > Show Desktop Icons is checked. If it is not, you have found the culprit. Simply check it to show your icons again.

Please update us whether ‘hidden desktop icons’ was the cause or not. There may be other reasons, too.

Lorrainegilbride

thanks tina have been tryin to find them for 2 weeks

February 21, 2012
0 votes

Mike

July 1, 2011

My first guess would be that the automatic Desktop Cleanup agent started (showed you a popup) and you clicked continue/ok without paying too much attention.

In that case it would have removed all items on your Desktop.

How to disable automatic Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320154

Bruce Epper

Although if that is what happened, the desktop would still contain a folder with all of the icons that were removed from the desktop.

July 2, 2011
0 votes

Michael Omotosho

April 9, 2012

my desktop icon is missing i right click is not working the I went to task manager under processes explorer.exe is missing i cannot find it I type explorer in to new task  it says window cannot find please help me out