The tip of the day will show you how to remove all the icons from the desktop.
If you like your desktop clean or simply has a very nice wallpaper it might be a good idea to remove the icons. In Windows XP simply rightlick on the desktop and select Arrange icons by and then decheck Show desktop icons
If you’re using an older Windows first start the Registry editor:
Start > Run > regedit
Go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Locate the DWORD-value “NoDesktop” and if you cant find it create one by rightclicking and the pick New > DWORD. Set it to 1. Simply refresh the desktop for the changes to take effect.