Windows XP: XP Desktop Icons ?????

XP Desktop Icons ?????

I have encountered an annoying issue with the desktop icons on a friends laptop. Desktop icons typically do not have a colored background box surrounding the Icon name, that is until you single click them, otherwise just the icon name is there with the desktop image behind it. Well, my friend says he was just working with some files when all of a sudden all his desktop icons appeared with colored background boxes behind the icon names, and we can't figure out how to restore the default configuration. We can change the color of the boxes, but cannot seem to get rid of them altogether. If anyone has encountered this anomoly and knows how to correct it I would be much obliged. It's nothing serious of course, but it's just one of those annoyances that drives me nuts because it's unsightly, and it's even more annoying that I can't seem to figure out how to correct it.
Thanks!