Desktop icons not showing

The task bar is an important part of the Windows experience. Not only does it contain a variety of information including what time it is and how much battery life is left it's the way most Windows users open programs and documents. As such, the task bar disappearing is a stressful thing, but fixing this problem on your own is possible.

Auto-Hide Sometimes you may think your task bar has disappeared, but it's really just been set to "auto-hide." Move your mouse to the bottom of the screen and see if it pops up automatically. Then check all four sides of the screen. If the task bar was simply auto-hiding, disable this feature by right-clicking the task bar, clicking "Properties" and unchecking "Auto-hide the Taskbar." b> Reboot b> If your task bar disappears, and auto-hide isn't the culprit, the first thing you should do is reboot your computer this fixes the problems in most instances. Only one problem: because your task bar disappeared you can't access the "Start" menu in order to shut down the computer. Instead press "Alt," "Ctrl," and "Delete" at the same time and press "Restart" in the window that pops up after doing so. Your computer should restart, and in most cases your task bar should come back when it restarts. b> More Options b> If rebooting doesn't fix cause the task bar to reappear, your computer might have a problem starting explorer.exe, the program that displays the task bar and desktop icons in Windows. Press "Ctrl," "Shift," and "Esc" at the same time to bring up the System Manager. Then click "File," followed by "New Task (Run)" and type "explorer.exe" in the dialogue box that pops up. You now have your task bar and desktop icons back. Reboot to see if they stick around after rebooting. If not, repeat the process in the above paragraph. When you have you task bar back click "Start," then "Programs," then "Accessories," then "System Tools" and then "System Restore." Restore the computer to a time when everything was working fine by clicking that date on the calendar. Reboot to see if this fixes the problem. If none of this brought back your task bar permanently it may be time to run a repair install. Change My Task Bar b> In Windows operating systems, the taskbar shows your currently active windows and programs, shortcuts to your favorite programs, the time, your volume control, active programs and the "Start" button. You may want to change the taskbar so it has a different look or to customize it to suit your needs when using your computer. Windows XP users have fewer options than Windows Vista or Windows 7 users, but all operating system owners can make changes to the taskbar.

Right-click in your taskbar. Left-click on "Lock the taskbar" if it is currently checked. Otherwise, click back onto the taskbar. Click on any empty area of the taskbar. Drag the taskbar to the position (bottom, top, left or right side of the screen) you desire, and release it. Re the taskbar by moving your cursor to where the taskbar ends. Your cursor will change to a two-way arrow. Left-click and drag the taskbar until it reaches the you want. Move your cursor over the series of separator bumps between the Start button and the Quick Launch menu, and the Quick Launch menu and the active programs section of the taskbar, to alter the of the Quick Launch menu and the active programs area. Right-click the taskbar, and left-click on "Lock the taskbar" once you've completed the changes you wish to make. b> Change Taskbar Options b> Right-click on the taskbar, and left-click on "Properties." Modify the taskbar settings so that it appears the way you like. You can decide whether to show the Quick Launch menu (a series of icons for your most commonly used programs), to show thumbnails for your active programs in Windows 7 and Windows Vista and to group similar active programs, and to automatically hide the taskbar or to always have it on top of other windows. Click on the "Notification" tab in Windows 7 or Vista to modify the way the notification area to the far right appears. Stay on the taskbar tab in Windows XP. Hide inactive icons, and decide which information to show, including the clock or the volume, power and network icons in Windows 7 and Vista. Click on the "Customize" button to specify which programs or notifications should always show, never show or grow inactive with disuse. Click on the "Toolbars" tab in Windows 7 or Vista to specify which toolbars you wish to see in the taskbar. Your options will vary according to the programs you have installed on your computer but may include the Quick Launch, address bar and links toolbars. Click the "Apply" button, then "OK" once you have made the changes you desire. Hope this helps.

It sounds like explorer.exe is being turned off. When you log in to Safe Mode hit Ctl+Alt+Del to bring the Task Manager and see if explorer.exe is running under Processes. If not, you can go to the Applications tab in Task Manager and click the New Task button and simply type in explorer.exe.
If this does not give you your Start Menu and Task Bar then you need to take your computer back to the repair service and have them fix it properly this time. Otherwise, you'll have to reinstall the operating system.

right click on the task bar a the bottom of the screen the 5th option will be show the desktop click on it! if this is helpful remeber me to vote!

The system tray (in short: systray, nowadays also called taskbar notification area) is the icon strip normally located near the right end of the task bar, next to the clock.
Some Windows XP installations show a peculiar defect in that some systray icons disappear or, rather, do not appear, when the system is booted and the user logs on. The problem is even more prevalent on systems with autologon. The most frequently affected icons seem to be the speaker icon (sound volume) and the power/energy icon.
This has nothing to do with the hide inactive icons settings. The defect shows up when you don't have any icons set for hiding.
In any case, please make sure for now that you haven't activated that setting. Right-click the task bar, click on Properties, uncheck the last check box. You can reactivate it later if all other problems are identified or solved.
Check your Startup folder and the starter registry entries through Start, Run..., type: msconfig, press Enter, to check whether the programs are really started at system start, or use Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) to see whether the processes are running.

Hi,

No this is more typical with Windows Vista users as updates can disable the icons from the notification bar.

Chose 'taskbar' tab, then click 'customize' and chose the option for the battery icon and change to 'show' .


If you need anymore help please post back.


Regards.

Right-click on your desktop
Click Properties
Click "Screen Saver" tab
Click "Power" button
another window will appear that says "Power Options Properties"
click "Advanced" tab
check "Always show icon on the task bar" click apply

Sounds like the explorer.exe process might be restarting. Open Task manager and keep refreshing the processes to see if explorer.exe disappears/re-appears.

Right Click the desktop, select "Sort By", select "Show Desktop Icons". Done!

try to use the second key on the bottom left of your keyboard to see the location of the task bar on the screen, if the bar appears and disappears once the key is released bring the mouse pointer on any place where the task bar appeared and then right click on it go to properties and uncheck the option auto hide the task bar.