Where are my downloaded files??!

[$hawn]

k sorry to disturb u guys again, but some really weird things are happening to me on ubuntu 12.04.

I just downloaded some 50MB worth of files through firefox, and i had saved them on my desktop......i even played one of the songs with VLC.
As soon as i quit firefox, there are no files on my desktop!!! This is so freaking annoying!!! i searched in the downloads folder also, just to be really sure....nothing!!!
Like my 50MB of stuff vanished into thin air!!! never had this issue with 10.04 or 11.04 till now!! btw i'm running ubuntu on a pen drive with 1GB persistence.......ny1 noes how to get my data back??!

 

[$hawn]

okay....heres what happened now.....i go to download the stuff again, and when the file save box opens, it shows all my previously downloaded files there on my desktop!!! I can also play the songs no issues.....
However, i can ONLY see them thru this file save dialog box!!! there nothing on my desktop, even if i go to home->desktop....still nothing.
I can't copy/cut the files in the save dialog box too......really pathetic behaviour from an LTS release!!

 

[nhasian]

By default with Gnome 3, desktop icons and the ability to right click on the desktop is disabled.

Open dconf by pressing alt + f2 and running:

dconf-editor

Go to org > gnome > desktop > background and check the box to show desktop icons.