How to get back ubuntu panel with default icons

Once the Terminal window opens, enter the following command at the prompt:

gconftool-2 – -shutdown

(Note: There should be no spaces between the two dashes before shutdown.)

EDIT – Reader nickrud has suggested a better method instead of shutting down gconfd. Instead use the following command (thanks nickrud!)

gconftool – -recursive-unset /apps/panel

(Remember: There should be no spaces between the two dashes before shutdown.)

Then enter the next command:

rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/panel

And enter one more command:

pkill gnome-panel

That's it!

Both top and bottom panels will appear (if missing) with their default settings. Now you can customize them to your preference and get on with using Ubuntu.