Sometime we found our Windows XP desktop icon missing. Windows XP desktop icon is the first little icon on the right of your quick launch bar.

If you do not know what the desktop icon looks like, here is the image

.

Well, most people accidentally deleted the desktop icon and cannot put it back because they do not know how to put it back or where to find the shortcut.
Actually it is just a plain text file named ShowDesktop.SCF that you can create by using notepad and type some text in the text file.

Here is the step-by-step guide to help you replace your missing Windows XP desktop icon:-

1. Right-click on an empty space on your Windows XP Quick Launch taskbar.
2. Select Open Folder. On the Quick Launch window that you just open, create a new text file named “ShowDesktop.SCF”
3. Open the new “ShowDesktop.SCF” file, type the following text:- [Shell] Command=2 IconFile=explorer.exe,3 [Taskbar] Command=ToggleDesktop
4. Save the file and voila! Your Windows XP desktop icon will appear again.

To simplify the process of solving your problem of Windws XP desktop icon missing, just download the “ShowDesktop.SCF” file

here

and put it on your “C:\Documents and Settings\user-name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch” folder (replace user-name with your Windows XP login user name).