KDE Panel and taskbar has disappeared

[monon]

I am running Feisty Fawn and Kde 3.5.6. The panel and task bar suddenly disappeared. Sometimes I can get the panel to reappear by starting kicker with the run command. When I do this the panel will start at the bottom of the screen and begin marching toward the top. If I react quickly and right click on the panel and select configuration, I can place the panel either vertically on the right or left side or at the top. However, no applications can be launched from the panel.

I have reinstalled both KDE and kicker with no changes in the results. Does anyone have any ideas?

thanks,
monon