Vista - desktop icons dissapear

my screen greys out the returns minus any desktop icons or taskbar, i need to
restart to get them back then sometime they go again so i do a restore, and
get them back, running vista business on a high end laptop well above the
spec required for vista

You could try this:

The Windows desktop may stop updating correctly after a Windows Vista-based
computer has been running for an extended period of time:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932406

If this problem happens again, rather than restarting or restoring, try
this: When you're at your blank Desktop, press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your
keyboard and open Task Manager. On the Processes tab of Task Manager, if
explorer.exe is running, right-click on it and Choose End Process. If it
doesn't restart automatically, switch to the Applications tab, and from the
File menu, choose New Task. Type explorer.exe in the Run box, and press
Enter on your keyboard.

If explorer.exe is not running on the Processes tab, switch to the
Applications tab, and from the File menu, choose New Task. Type
explorer.exe in the Run box, and press Enter on your keyboard.



"dave" <dave@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news01F24D7-ED7B-4878-93E6-6A9DC884ABD7@microsoft.com...
> my screen greys out the returns minus any desktop icons or taskbar, i need
> to
> restart to get them back then sometime they go again so i do a restore,
> and
> get them back, running vista business on a high end laptop well above the
> spec required for vista

"dean-dean" wrote:

> You could try this:
>
> The Windows desktop may stop updating correctly after a Windows Vista-based
> computer has been running for an extended period of time:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932406
>
> If this problem happens again, rather than restarting or restoring, try
> this: When you're at your blank Desktop, press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your
> keyboard and open Task Manager. On the Processes tab of Task Manager, if
> explorer.exe is running, right-click on it and Choose End Process. If it
> doesn't restart automatically, switch to the Applications tab, and from the
> File menu, choose New Task. Type explorer.exe in the Run box, and press
> Enter on your keyboard.
>
> If explorer.exe is not running on the Processes tab, switch to the
> Applications tab, and from the File menu, choose New Task. Type
> explorer.exe in the Run box, and press Enter on your keyboard.
>
>
>
> "dave" <dave@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news01F24D7-ED7B-4878-93E6-6A9DC884ABD7@microsoft.com...
> > my screen greys out the returns minus any desktop icons or taskbar, i need
> > to
> > restart to get them back then sometime they go again so i do a restore,
> > and
> > get them back, running vista business on a high end laptop well above the
> > spec required for vista
>
> Many thanks