If you are experiencing the issue of only having a Recycle Bin on your desktop please do the following steps to resolve your issue:
Step 1
Click on the Start Button
Step 2
Click any of the following, Logoff, Restart, or Shut Down
Step 3
Log back into VMWare and you should now have all of your icons back on your desktop.
*IMPORTANT*
You MUST be in VMWare to fix this issue.