[joe mobilio]

when loading xp, the only things thatshow up on the screen is the cursor and the background picture.....and no icons!!!!!

 

[lorjack]

Press Ctrl + Alt + Del, and in the task manager window click File > New Task > type explorer.exe and hit enter.

 

[mcorton]

Try right clicking on the bottom bar and make sure "Show Desktop" is checked. That may help.