restoring "Show Desktop" icon

My 3 year old son deleted SHOW DESKTOP icon in the Quick Launch bar in my WINXPPRO system. How do I restore it?

you can try this:

Go to Start | Programs | Accessories | Notepad.

In a blank text document, type:

[Shell]

Command=2

IconFile=explorer.exe,3

[Taskbar]

Command=ToggleDesktop



When you save the text document, you need to change the "Save as Type" field to "All Files," and type "Show Desktop.scf" (sans quotes) for the file name. You'll want to save file in C:\Windows\System or C:\Winnt\system32, depending on your Windows installation.

Use Windows Explorer or My Computer to navigate to where you saved the Show Desktop.scf file.

Now, right-click the file and choose "Create Shortcut."

Move the shortcut to C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch if you are on Windows 9x, C:\Winnt\System32 if you are on Windows NT4/2000, or to C:\WINDOWS\System32\Config\Systemprofile\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch for Windows XP.

Last, you need to right-click the shortcut, choose Rename and type "Desktop" (sans quotes) for the name.

Now the Show Desktop icon will automatically appear in the Quick Launch toolbar, and you shouldn't have to restart. However, if you don't see the shortcut, then try restarting your machine before retrying the steps.


But did you know that you can just press the windows key and D at the same time and get the same effect?

You can also copy it from another computer to a floppy and transfer it over. I did it from a W2K computer to a W95 computer and it worked fine.

Just disable quick launch and re-enable it, it should show up. It happened to me recently.