Problems after clean install

[Barney-R]

I've finally installed Ubuntu 12.04 (64-bit, clean install, single boot) and am now in the process of installing software and setting everything up the way I want it, but I'm having a few problems.

In case it's relevant, I've reverted to the Gnome desktop, for now at least, and I've installed the restricted extras.

I'm not aware of any major problems with my internet connection, though I'm continually receiving a "disconnected" message (every few seconds) followed by the "connecting" animation.

It was only after installing Gnome that I was able to get the update manager to work at all, and then it logged me out half way through the download and hasn't worked since. The download box appears, but there's no progress bar and it eventually fails, often shutting down on it's own or remaining frozen.

I've tried customising my workspace switcher, but if I switch to another workspace I get a completely blank screen. Surprisingly (to me at least) Ctrl+Alt+Del returns me to what I was working on before, but the workspace reverts to the default.

I'm sure I'll have a few more problems before I'm finished, but I'm hoping someone can help me with these.

[Barney-R]

More on that. Update manager seems to be working now, though with a dramatically reduced list of available updates.

The "no connection" message seems to have sorted itself out.

I can create as many workspaces as I want, but only workspace 1 works. If I try to use any of the others, everything disappears from the screen, leaving just my choice of wallpaper, though I do occasionally lose that and have to reinstate it.

The only way I've found to get back to workspace 1 is Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Sometimes when I do this, or sometimes for no apparent reason whatsoever, I get logged out.

I'm back to having only a single workspace now. I didn't change it. Ubuntu did. It does that every time.

It's frustrating when there's so much to put back after a clean installation, and I'm hoping I won't be told it's a faulty install that will have to be done again.

One more annoyance has shown up. This concerns the "Better Privacy" add-on for FireFox, which repeatedly opens a help screen, both when I open FireFox and while I'm browsing. Is there any way of stopping this, short of uninstalling the add-on? I've checked the preferences, and there aren't any clues there.