Can XFCE be re-installed? SOLVED

[bushyiii]

Something is wrong with my XFCE Desktop Environment. My cursor is now an "X" , Firefox my browser is in a small window that cannot be expanded. So I am wondering if there's anything to do to fix?

[Moem]

Do you use Timeshift? Restoring from a snapshot might well fix things.

[ajgreeny]

You can also try renaming the configuration files of Xfce with command

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mv .config/xfce4 .config/xfce4-backup

then logout and in again.

[kc1di]

Or if you don't have a timeshift back up you can try reinstalling xfce4. (one thing backup all you important data off computer, either external usb or cloud)
The go to synaptic and install the xfce4 meta package. Or in a terminal type this.

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sudo apt install xfce4

if that does not fix the problem do a complete fresh install.

good luck.

[bushyiii]

So I did a number of things and each seemed to help a little and then the final try cured the problem.
1) did a two day old restore from timshift. Id didn't help, maybe I needed to go back further.
2) renamed the .config/xfce4 to cfce4_old. It brought back the desktop but the cursor was wrong, it was a "X" and firefox opens in a small rectangle window and the minimize, expand & close icons are missing.
3) Re-installed xfce4 through synaptic
no change
4) from terminal sudo xfce4 --replace
this brought everything back to normal.

Thanks to everyone for the help

[ajgreeny]

Very strange!
Had you installed another window-manager and changed away from the usual xfwm?