Mint 14 Nadia has damaged files shortly after new install

[buttlebrain]

I just installed Linux Mint 14 Nadia. Everything went just fine. I did all the updates, email setups, program installs, etc. Everything was fine. I made some settings changes. One was in Security for auto login, to bypass the password entry. There were other changes that I don't remember. Nothing extravagant, just GUI adjustments: font size, colors, screensaver stuff. Downloaded a few programs from the Software Center: calculator, backup, basic stuff.

On reboot I got trouble:
To quote: (each in separate pop ups) ("rb" is my user name)
"ICEAuthority file home/rb/.ICEauthority Configuration server /usr/lib/mateconf-sanity-check-2 exited with status 256"
"panel encountered a problem while loading "OAFIID: mate-mintmenu". Do you want to delete the applet from your configuration?" [yes/no]
"The path for the directory containing caja settings need read and write permissions /home/rb/.config/caja"

The main menu is not available. Networking makes the connection to the internet, but no access to any programs. Updates are all up to date. There is no other OS on this computer. I'm presently using the install disk to reach out with. I'm running a Dell Latitude D820 laptop and Mint

How do I get out of this mess? Is there a repair install that will bypass the application programs like Windows does? I am a newbie with some but little terminal experience. Can I make repairs with this install disk to the installed system?

[computerbob]

Here's what I would do:
Open disks and make sure hard drive has no bad sectors. Should say "disk is ok"
Reboot and run memtest to make sure your ram is ok.
Reload Mint14 from a new dvd or try Mint15 or Mint16. Mint14 is a year old.