How to Fix Desktop icons missing or disappeared

1. Right-click on the desktop and choose Arrange Icons By. Next check the Show Desktop Icons item.

2. The second method involves restarting the explorer process without having to restart Windows.

3. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL and click on Task Manager.

4. Now in the Task Manager, you want to click on File and then New Task (Run). Make sure you are on the Processes tab.

5. In the Open box, go ahead and type in explorer.exe and click OK.

6. If these methods do not work, you may have something corrupted in Windows.  The System File Checker (or SFC) is a utility in Windows XP that allows getting this resolved. Below are the steps to be followed:

• Insert Windows XP installation disc into the CD drive.
• Launch the command prompt by clicking "Run" in the Start Menu, typing "cmd" (without quotes) in the open box and clicking "OK".
• Type "sfc /scannow" (without quotes) and press "Enter." If prompted, type your administrator password and click "OK" to launch the System File Checker.
• Follow the guided prompts on the System File Checker. If prompted, restart the computer.