Is there a Laptop Doctor in the house?

[TEB]

Strange icons, or just the same ones in a different order?

I'm not sure System Restore would undo what you've done, TEB, if you're around do you know?

We could try doing a System Restore. If you click on Start you sholud see something on there called "Help & Support" and if you click on that do you see something that says "Restore System" or something like that? Sorry for being vague, but it's one of those bits of Windows that is manufacturer dependant.

Yep System Restore should revert the icons on the desktop, system restore is located under system tools from the Accessories menu, you might want to create a "restore point" first, its a just in case