[CentOS] Reconfiguring gnome desktop

Please - how do I reconfigure my gnome desktop (CentOS 4.4) to get back
my application icons and workspaces? Something's changed in the settings
so that there are no workspaces shown in the panel and applications
"disappear" off the screen when applications (eg Evolution, Mozilla etc)
are minimized! When I log in as root, it's all still there OK!

Any help appreciated - thanks

Andy