Icon images disappear

[nomad111]

hey i just went into half-life and when i quit the game the icon for the shortcuts on my desktop have been replaced by the unknown file icons if u kno wat i mean (the icons for my computer, my documents, internet explorer ...) and same thing in the quick launch bar in the toolbar. im really stressed out coz this is the first day using my laptop and i would greatly appreciate if someone can help (im literally begging here).
my laptop is a dell inspiron 6400/e1505 with specs:
core duo t2500 2.0ghz
ddr2 2gb ram @ 667 MHz
100gb sata drive
intel gma 950 (224 megs shared)
Windows xp professional

Any help is appreciated im dying here.

Regards,
nomad111

 

[dBTelos]

Do you mean the icons are different, or the shortcuts as a whole. If it is the icons, like the pictures then maybe HL2 built in a theme that it uses.

 

[OmahaTaz]

Do the Icons still work? If it is just the graphic part of the icon that is messed up, you can delete the shelliconcache and the file will rebuild after a reboot.
I found a link with the instructions: http://www.d-a-l.com/help/archive/index.php/t-882.html