hi.
i know this is old and i tried several programs to hide icons.
the best that suits my needs is the one posted by skywalka, autohide, because it mimics the windows "show/hide desktop icons" while others make them reappear by refreshing the desktop. http://www.geocities.com/autohide_hompage/Autohide.htm

also, it doesn't just toggle desktop icons. if they're already hidden by xp, it does nothing, if they're visible, it hides them.

now the thing is, the author stopped updating the software and like skywalka says it's buggy and the config option is not fully working as the author warns.

i didn't want to start a new thread for this but is it possible for skrommel to code a similar app which hides desktop icons like described above and adds an icon to the systray which makes possible to toggle visibility with a left click?

in addition to hiding the icons, to add the function to apply a predefined wallpaper on program run too and when the program exits, restore the default wallpaper and the default icon visibility (hidden or visible, like they were set by pervious user). the path to the wallpaper would be relative.

this would be useful to provide a clean environment to use my portable software in a friend's computer or internet cafes where usually the desktop is cluttered.

thanks for your time and cheers.

D.O.A.
http://www.sharewareconnection.com/desktop-organizer-arranger.htm

here. shareware and the homepage is no more but you can still download it in the above link.
looks like the thing you were looking for.