Desktop Icons wont respond

[#1]

When I have switched on and the desktop eventually comes up the icons when selected dont get me to the desired program or if they do they are slow  I have XP and use Firefox and have AVG free, why ??, the whole process of switching on is very slow Any advice appreciated

[#2]

If you've recently upgraded to or installed AVG 8.0, then this could be causing the slowdown at start-up. Best to wait until the disk activity has reduced/ceased and see if you can launch your usual applications using the icons. AVG 8.0 settings allow you to alter the time at which it does automatic updates, you could try to change this to a time which is less likely to affect your use.
Additional memory may also help, since this would reduce the reliance of your applications on hard disk space virtual memory. Ideally, if you can upgrade to 1 or 2 MB this should make all your applications start up much faster. Worth also trying to clear your Temporary Internet Files folder and running a disk defragmentation, and run a spyware protection scan to see if any malicious programs are running which are slowing down other applications.

[#3]

Good shout about AVG.
I've had increasing numbers of problems and ditched it for Avast. I see improved performance everywhere as a result - should have done it months ago

[#4]

Quote from: stathe

I have XP and use Firefox and have AVG free, why ??,

Because you refuse to pay for the full version.