I have Ubuntu 14.04 installed. It was working fine until I installed Virtualbox, and then without installing any guest OS under Virtual box, ran an system update when prompted by Ubuntu. Now when I log into Ubuntu, all I get is a blank default desktop screen (the peachy pink mauve one) and cannot access menus, cannot access terminal CTRL+ALT+T right clicking does nothing, although the mouse cursor still appears and can be dragged around the empty screen. CTRL+ALT+F1 brings up a terminal.
I have a lot of data on my Ubuntu installation that I do not want to lose, and would like to secure it/save/backup in case something goes wrong. I have a bootable Ubuntu 14.04 DVD which works, and using this I can run another Ubuntu 14.04 without installing. When I run the Ubuntu without install from the DVD, I can only see some of the data, because I get the message, you do not have the necessary permissions to access this folder or some words to that effect. Any help in fixing my problem is greatly appreciated.