gnome apps not working

[johnny bobby bee]

i have both kde and gnome 2.2.0 installed on a Mandrake 9.1 laptop.
although i always use kde but some gnome apps.
this morning any gnome app i try to launch results in error messages,
sometimes the app won't open.

2 examples:

gedit:
[***@lin-shine .gnome2]$ gedit

(gedit:27412): Bonobo-WARNING **: Failed to get
'/desktop/gnome/interface/menubar_detachable': 'Adding client to
server's list failed, CORBA error: IDL:omg.org/CORBA/COMM_FAILURE:1.0'

(gedit:27412): GdkPixbuf-CRITICAL **: file
../../gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-io.c: line 729 (gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file):
assertion `filename != NULL' failed

(gedit:27412): GdkPixbuf-CRITICAL **: file
../../gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-io.c: line 729 (gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file):
assertion `filename != NULL' failed

(gedit:27412): GdkPixbuf-CRITICAL **: file
../../gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-io.c: line 729 (gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file):
assertion `filename != NULL' failed

(gedit:27412): GdkPixbuf-CRITICAL **: file
../../gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-io.c: line 729 (gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file):
assertion `filename != NULL' failed

(gedit:27412): GdkPixbuf-CRITICAL **: file
../../gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-io.c: line 729 (gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file):
assertion `filename != NULL' failed

resulting in gedit not opening at all.
i can't locate any of the directories or files the error messages are
seeming to point to.
------------------------

gnome-dictionary:
[***@lin-shine .gnome2]$ gnome-dictionary

(gnome-dictionary:27569): GConf-WARNING **: Directory
`/apps/gnome-settings/gnome-dictionary/history-Wordentry' was not being
monitored by GConfClient 0x807a370
---------

it still opens, but with error messages, and any word i try to look up
will result in the same error messages.
again -- where is this /apps/gnome-settings/ directory it's pointing to?

everything works fine if i 'su to another user' or log in as another user.
what file(s) got corrupt? can i fix this, or am i SOL?

[johnny bobby bee]

Post by johnny bobby bee
everything works fine if i 'su to another user' or log in as another user.
what file(s) got corrupt? can i fix this, or am i SOL?

i think i got it working again by killing a gconfd-2 process.
i'm not sure why i chose to kill it, but i did, and i can now open gnome
apps again without errors.
i'd still appreciate if anyone knows what may have happened?
what does gconfd-2 process do? no information on my system on it.
all i know is that it is activated with any gnome app that i launch.