Got some very nasty icon problems and part of the upper panel was gone; for instance volume control and logout button; installed lxappearence:
http://www.gnomefiles.org/app.php/LXAppearance.
This made new custum settings very easy to set and to experiment with
STumbling In Linux Land, STupid and Unlucky Pablo? The tribulations and happy discoveries of a Linux former Newbie, now bit more experienced user