my desktop won't show.

I got a virus on my hard drive (in spite of McAfee online security, including antivirus) got that removed; the operating system is fine, my desktop folder is there; but the desktop won't show. In the control panel, it won't even let me interact with the desktop category in the display section. I can use the start menu to get to the internet and other offline applications, but my screen is blank and no icons. And I have no clue how to categorize my question. How do I get my desktop icons back?

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