I'm at work so I can't get a screenshot of my desktop right now. I wanted to say, though, shortcuts and wallpaper do take system resources to have. The more shortcuts the more resources. Granted it really shouldn't effect your system a whole lot it's still good to keep it in mind.
And don't forget the Windows sounds and things like drop shadows and such. Those things sit in system memory as well.
Check out
http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?d ... de&dId=324 for a good guide for tweaking XP for games.
I'll try to post my desktop after I get home. What's the best program to convert MOHAA .tga files to JPEG (preferably freeware)?