Restarting Computer Problem

Hi all..my issue is that for some reason..the computer shuts down properly but when I want to restart the computer it will come up to my desktop but I wont see any icons on the screen and the only way that the computer starts properly is if I press the button on the computer itself to restart..its very strange..never seen something like that before..I just restored my computer two days ago so I dont have any viruses or spyware..that is my only issue, other then that annoyance, the computer works perfectly..any suggestions as to what I have to do? Thank U

---I forgot to add that my computer is Windows XP Professional 512mb memory, 80gig hard drive..2.0 ghz processor..wasnt sure if this info was needed