Hide desktop icons in Windows XP I found this tip in a mag If you are using the Windows XP Start menu, use the Registry Editor to navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartMenu. If you are using the Classic Start menu, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu. For each desktop icon that you wish to hide, Add a Value Name of the Class ID, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{Class ID}, as a REG_DWORD data type, and set the data value to 1. Right-click the desktop and press Refresh to see the effect of your change. NOTE: You can use the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key instead of HKEY_CURRENT_USER. NOTE: Some common Class IDs are: {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} My Computer {450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103} My Documents {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} My Network Places {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D} Internet Explorer {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} Recycle Bin {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} Printers and Faxes {D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153} Administrative Tools {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} Scheduled Tasks {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E} Network Connections {D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524152} Fonts Alternate Right click on desktop and arrange icons by uncheck show desktop icons.