Maybe you should turn the problem on its head: try removing the configuration directories. Log out and switch to a virtual terminal (Ctrl+Alt+F4 fore example), log in as your normal user and run:
Code:
cd ~
mkdir OldConfig
mv .bash* .cache .config .dbus .gconf .gnome* .ICEauthority .local OldConfig
cp -R /etc/skel/.bash* /etc/skel/.gnome2 ~