How do I reset the Unity desktop?

copy paste this command into terminal and hit enter ... Ubuntu is case sensitive

unity --reset

and for rest problems please provide some details

Thanks
~jeet

Yes, I tried it but it does not work. If I log in with a Gnome desktop, I can load the launcher with the superkey but it will not re-appear using the mouse. If I log in with the "Ubuntu" setting, I have a few desktop icons previously created by Gnome and nothing else. No application menu for instance. I can only open the browser by opening a terminal window from the keyboard and then selecting a browser from the menu.
I have no exit but on any windows, not even for the computer itself. I managed to log out into a terminal and then logged in as root in the terminal window (not a GUI). I ran the following commands and got the responses shown:

# unity - -reset
WARNING: no DISPLAY variable set, setting it to :0
(process:3225): GConf -WARNING **: Client failed to connect to the D-BUS daemon:
//bin/dbus-launch terminated abnormally with the following error:
Autolauncher error: X11 initialization failed.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/usr/bin/unity”, line 222, in <module> reset_unity_compiz_profile ()
File “/usr/bin/unity, line 84 in reset_unity_compiz_profile except (GError, AttributeError), e:
NameError: global name Gerror is not defined

# unity - -reset-icons
WARNING: no DISPLAY variable set, setting it to :0
**(process:3233) WARNING ** Command line ‘dbus-launch - -auto launch = bf2c3f82d65d614d5b10c1bb00000007 - -binary-syntax - - close-stderr’ exited with non-zero exit status 1: autolaunch error: X11 initialization failed \n

COMPIZ (core) – Fatal: Couldn’t open display:
root@ubuntu:~# unity-panel-service: no process found

Are those errors occurring simply because I no longer had a GUI?

Yes they are, try running it just in a terminal after logging in, so just hold ctrl+alt+t to launch it, this should work even if window decoration etc. is not working, now you should be able to type unity --replace

Thank you samuel. I tried the replace command but got many warning messages and an error saying "NO D-BUS Daemon running."

If this should be running, how can I enable it from the command line?
Thank you

check
gconf-editor -> under apps > gksu. Is the 'sudo-mode' box ticked

I have a few desktop icons previously created by Gnome and nothing else. No application menu for instance. I can only open the browser by opening a terminal window from the keyboard and then selecting a browser from the menu.

So, I cannot open gconf from the gui

run commands terminal one by one

sudo apt-get install gconf-editor
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

after that verify gconf-editor entry

open gconf-editor using command

gconf-editor in terminal

thanks
~jeet

Thank you jeet. I tried your suggestions and some updates occurred.

gconf-editor opened with a blank template showing nothing much except "/".

The terminal window gave many warning messages and an error saying "NO D-BUS Daemon running."

If this should be running, how can I enable it from the command line?
Thank you

If I log in as the guest user, I get a perfectly normal Unity desktop. So, is there a setting or configuration file in my log-in which I can just replace with the guest user's default settings? That might be a quick way of fixing the problem.

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

I am getting the same eroor on quantal alpha3. When I do unity -reset no display variable set, setting it to :0 is the message I am getting. The terminal window gave many warning messages and an error saying "NO D-BUS Daemon running."