How to put the desktop icons back to the Windows Vista desktop

Right-click an empty spot on your desktop, click Personalize,

In the Personalization window, click on Change desktop icons,
In the Desktop Icon Settings window, click to select all the empty check boxes for the desktop icons,
Click ok…….. and there we have them back!

How do I change the Notepad Icon?

This article ( Changing icons on Windows Vista - An Article by Frogboy )explains how to go about changing any Icon image to a more viewable one.