BOBBYE:
IE shortcut is missing from all areas' desktop, quick launch and start menu.
Did a hard shut down, no luck.
Except for empty Quick Launch the remander of the Taskbar is intact and functions fine.
Here is a solution offered by many if you Google Internet Explorer missing from desktop...
"Internet Explorer 7 Desktop icon missing
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Author: Raghu Boddu MVP
Community Solutions Content Disclaimer
Article ID : 555849
Last Review : January 21, 2007
Revision : 1.0
SUMMARY
The Internet Explorer icon might be missing after either you upgrade the Internet Explorer version to 7, or installed through Windows updates.
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CAUSE
This is not an issue and is by design. Unlike the previous versions of Internet Explorer, the option to enable to Internet Explorer icon on the Windows Desktop is not available. The behavior of Internet Explorer 7, which is bundled with Windows Vista is also the same.
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RESOLUTION
To resolve the issue, perform the following:
1. Click Start, Run.
2. Type "regedit.exe" (Without quotes).
3. Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
4. In the right hand pane, double-click {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D} key.
5. Enter dword value as 0 to enable the Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop."
Sorry for the long form but I can't remember how to create a link...I was unable to do this as there is no Hidedesktopicons folder doesn't seem to exist in my HKEY_CURRENT_USER file.
There are many responses when I Googled this topic so I believe this is a "common" problem especially after IE updated but I did not reinstall or update.
Regards, Ned