If all else fails, like it did in my case (I tried re-installing ubuntu, updating gnome-panel, chmod, chown, upgrade), you can try deleting .* in your /home/user folder. So all folders such as .gconf and any files that start with . should be deleted. It worked for me.
If all else fails, like it did in my case (I tried re-installing ubuntu, updating gnome-panel, chmod, chown, upgrade), you can try deleting .* in your /home/user folder. So all folders such as .gconf and any files that start with . should be deleted. It worked for me.