changing desktop_is_home_dir has no effect on home folder displayed on desktop - cannot remove home folder display. Why?

the home folder is displayed on the desktop
tried gconf-editor - changing true / false for desktop_is_home_dir, with no change either way
tried ubuntu tweak - again, no change
when logging in as different user, the original clear desktop appears, and the gconf-editor and ubuntu tweak both work as intended, but not when logging in as administrator
what settings etc. do I need to delink desktop and home folder?