Okay for "Recently Opened Programmes":-
Go to "Control Panel"
Click on "Taskbar & Start Menu"
Click on the "Start Menu" tab
Make sure "Start Menu" is selected and click on "Customise"
Click on "Advanced" tab
...

Okay for "Recently Opened Programmes":-
Go to "Control Panel"
Click on "Taskbar & Start Menu"
Click on the "Start Menu" tab
Make sure "Start Menu" is selected and click on "Customise"
Click on "Advanced" tab
Check the box at the bottom next to "List my most recently opened documents"
Press "OK" and "OK" again to close all windows.

For the "Show Desktop" icon on the Quick Launch toolbar:-
Enter the following in the address bar after opening My Computer:-
C:\Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
(username being your username obviously)

Make a Text File in it:-
Enter the following in the text file:-
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save the file as "Show Desktop.scf" and make sure it is in the Quick Launch folder.

Open the folder as a toolbar in the desktop taskbar. It should be there.

If all this doesn't help, visit the windows update website to make sure you have the latest updates.

Hope I helped.