Resolved Taskbar problems XP Sp3

My task bar has gone "goofy ":

On the LEFT, I used to have "desktop ", "Firefox ", "Windows File Explorer ", "Internet Explorer" and a few other quick-change icons. Now, all I have is the "START" button and I am unable to place any shortcuts to the left of the divider bar. The icons on the RIGHT side do not appear to have been affected.

Also, in Windows SEARCH, I had the "search assistant pane (which opened on the LEFT side of the main search pane).... it has disappeared as well.

I just had a piece of malware removed and a lot of cleaning and the like done under BRONI'S aegis, but I had the icons in the taskbar (I'm sure I did) after that.

Most annoying as I use those icons quite a lot.

Any help in getting them back again would be appreciated.

(If this is in the wrong place, please move it for me!)

 

Right click on Start, left click on Properties, go to Taskbar and make sure Show Quick Launch is checked. If it isn't, check it. You could also try unchecking it, reboot and go back and check it. Then just drag and drop what you want there.

 

Thank you....