If you want to view all your icons in the quick launch bar, then right click the taskbar, and then uncheck "Lock the Taskbar" - thiw will show little side bars on the quicklaunch that will enable you to make it wider or narrower.
If you want to put the quick launch on your desktop, do the same steps as above, but instead of making anything wider, just click and drag the fitting bars to your desktop - this will make it so that your quicklaunch is on your desktop as a window.
If you want to just remove the quicklaunch, right click your taskbar, then go to "toolbars" and uncheck the checkmark next to "Quick Launch."