Thread: No Desktop icons after the boot in Vista

When I started my computer, I can see the desktop, but cannot see the icons. Instead of icons, Windows Explorer window will open showing the Desktop icons in the window. How to fix it?

If you are unable to see your desktop icons, then press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open the Task Manager. Then, click on File and then “New Task (Run...)”. Then type regedit.exe in the Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor. In the Registry Editor, go to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

Then, double click on “Shell” key and check whether the Value Data contains only explorer.exe or it contains any other value. If there is anything, then delete it and type only explorer.exe and click on OK and close the Registry Editor. Then reboot the system.