The desktop icons are gone when I return to the desktop from any activity - only the background image displays. Combination of Windows key and 'D' will display the icons, as will clicking the 'Display Desktop' icon in the Quick Launch toolbar. Actually these keystrokes toggle the display of the icons.

Any ideas as to how to remedy this aggravation ?

Thanks.

right-click on your desktop and highlight "arrange icons by" and make sure that "Show Desktop Icons" is checked.