Try opening a command prompt window, then pasting the following commands,
noting the results of each.
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ex plorer\User
Shell Folders" /v "Common Desktop"
reg query "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ex plorer\User
Shell Folders" /v "Desktop"
Watch out for line wrap. The normal results for each should be:
Common Desktop REG_EXPAND_SZ %PUBLIC%\Desktop
Desktop REG_EXPAND_SZ %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
You can check the contents of each by pasting %public% in the Start Search
box, the clicking on 'Public Desktop' in the resulting Explorer window. Do
the same for %userprofile%, checking the 'Desktop' folder.
--
Good Luck,
Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
"Mac3438" <Mac3438@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news

0F79AE3-328F-4F5C-8D33-62EEABA1AD05@microsoft.com...
> My desktop underwent a change today. I lost several icons, and the
> remaining
> ones "doubled" (2 of everything) and they appear to be the icons that were
> originally loaded (the computer is less that 2 weeks old). When I delete
> one
> icon, its "twin" is still there, but inoperable. When I try to create a
> shortcut on the desktop, I get the message: :"Windows could not place the
> shortcut on the desktop. Check to see if the disc is full." What disc?
> This is the second time this has happened. The first time (about 7 days
> ago)
> I did a system restore.