How do I make "My Computer" appear in WinXP?

Ah yes, the mystery of the missing desktop icons. A common problem and according to my man Sherlock Holmes if we eliminate all the possibilities but one, the remaining explanation, however improbable, must be the solution.

Hmm, or maybe that's not where we need to go with this. Indeed, according to Holmes' friend Dr. Watson, the answer might just be quite a bit easier than we're suggesting.

Actually, it is pretty straightforward. What you need to do is right-click on your desktop.

You'll get a menu that pops up with a bunch of choices, the bottommost of which is "Properties". Choose that. Now you'll see:

Now here's the part where it is most assuredly not obvious, even to someone as smart as Mr. Holmes. You need to click on "Customize Desktop..." to proceed:

Now you can see all the options and figure this one out, I bet. Click on the little box next to "My Computer" and then click "OK". Nothing's changed yet, don't panic.

You need to also click on "Apply" on the parent window.

Now, finally, your happy little "My Computer" icon should have reappeared on the desktop:

And now you're happy. You might want to keep your daughter off your gear in the future, though.

Elementary, my dear reader!