Don't know if he can replicate it. I don't have Fedora Core (can't download all that on only a 56K dialup and don't have $$ right now even for "cheap" CDs).

So I'm using my RH9 distro. Try this:
As root, go in to the Control Panel, Log in Screens, change the background to another wallpaper. Log out and see if you can still log in. It might work since it's for Fedora Core. But on RH9 it's not working. I can't find any KDE 3.2 for RH9.
Times like these I wish I could afford DSL. *sigh*