Desktop.ini My Windows Vista OS boots up and asks for logins but when logged on i cannot see the desktop icons nor the desktop.

Boot in safe mode

Start msconfig.exe and configure windows to start with a clean boot.

a. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrator rights.

b. Click Start, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER to start the System Configuration Utility.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

c. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then click to clear the Load startup items check box. (The Use Original Boot.ini check box is unavailable.)

d. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then click Disable all.
Note Following this step lets Microsoft services continue to run. These services include Networking, Plug and Play, Event Logging, Error Reporting, and other services. If you disable these services, you may permanently delete all restore points. Do not do this if you want to use the System Restore utility together with existing restore points.

e. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Boot the machine in normal mode.

'
yiyu

You need to access the BIOS - press F1 or F2 (depending on the version)during the start of the desktop - and in there you must modify the boot order: put the cd first then the had disk second. Save the change, reboot, insert the Vista disk and reboot once more - the disk will be loaded.

there is two lines in windows registry you must correct, but because of not being able to log on you cant do it on line you have to do it offline, to do so:
boot using Hirens bootable CD ver 9.9 or later , load miniXP , when os loads open {hirens wintools} from desktop and then go to menu>other>registry editor PE the specify the windows director path then it will automaticaly find your windows registry files, just press open every time it asks , then press no if it asks for loadin remote user profile . then regedit screen loads go to >local machine>_Remote software>microsoft>windowsNT>current version>winlogon
check the following keys in the right pan:
shell>>>must have the value of : Explorer.exe
Userinit>>>must have the value of: c:\windows\system32\userinit.exe
correct and close the applicatin . then reboot
hopefully you will ne able to login.

Your desktop is not being displayed, your Operating System (OS) must be corrupted.
What OS are you using?
If you are using windows OS (XP, Vista, Windows 7),
you can open your task manager by pressing Ctrl,Alt,Delete keys in that sequence,
the task manager will open, click on the New Task tab and a dialogue box will apear. Type Desktop in the dialogue box, then click OK for the desktop to be displayed.
A more permanent solution would be to perform a repair using your OS installation CD.

go to C:\boot.ini file.
there will be two lines like--
multidisk(0)\........
specifying two labels that u see while booting.
just del the 1 line corresponding to the OS which u want to clear. and save the file

try both versions of the OS (dual boot mode)
you logged in on the other OS

Hey there - Try booting into safe mode (hold F8 during boot up) choose the safe mode option. This should bring the administrative account available at the login screen. Hopefully you have not password protected it. If you can log into that account you can remove/change the password settings for the your account under the "users" in the control panel settings.

NOTE* This fix assumes you're operating in Windows XP

Replace the shortcuts with the same shortcut, only to the same application.
Desktop.ini is an important file.