After improper shutdown, 1 user can't startx (KDE), sudo, OR su. Root account is ok!
 

Running Slackware 13.0 with KDE 4.

During a thunderstorm, I (properly) turned off my laptop and unplugged the power and ethernet.

I forgot to plug the power back in when I started my laptop later. So the battery got drained.

After letting the laptop charge, my regular user can no longer "startx," "sudo," "su," or "slocate." I thought maybe I lost my PATH variable, but typing a full path such as "/usr/bin/startx" returns the same error. The error message is "command not found." Some commands work, however, like "ls" and "ls -la."

Actually, when I type "startx," it gives me a list of commands (maybe 6-10) it can't find! This includes "rm."

However, the root account is fine. I am on KDE now, logged in as root. So I don't want to configure X, correct?

I also thought about (while logged in as root) opening a console, "su"-ing to the regular user, and trying "startx" so as to paste the output here. But I think that's unsafe....if for any reason startx works (like because I still have my root environment), I don't know if it will cause problems because I already have an X session going!

Did some profile files get corrupted? What should I do? (Again, trying "startx" as user causes the error of not being able to find "rm" and other commands, not just startx!)

For testing purposes, try creating a new user using "adduser" as root, then logging in as the new user and seeing if new user works okay.

If it does, it tells you that something is boinked in old user's profile.

I don't have any answers from here on but I have a couple of more testing suggestions: IF that happens, the first thing I would try would be to log back in as old user and run xwmconfig to see what happens.

I would also try selecting a different window manager for old user (fluxbox or blackbox or anything not used before) and seeing if that worked.

If so, it could mean that the configuration files in /home/Old User/.[whatever window manager you were using before] are messed up.

Hope this helps you get started testing.

Thanks frankbell.

Unfortunately I ended up re-installing Slackware for another reason, but I will try your suggestions if an account gets messed up again!