If ur using normal XP startmenu (not classic)......

1) Type regedit in the RUN box and navigate to the following:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartMenu
2) Select File/Export and save the reg file to C (if it goes wrong, u can double-click this and restore it)
3) Delete all the entries in the right pane
4) Open Notepad and copy/paste the following into it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}"=dword:00000000
"{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000
"{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

5) Save the file as 'desktop.reg' to C (or rename it from .txt)
6) Double-click it to register the entry.
7) Re-boot the PC

Hope it works !!