The published fix (Fix Ubuntu / Linux Mint forgetting the theme) for the Classic graphics mode as outlined below only partially fixed my problem.
With the fix in place, Top Panel remains in high graphics mode for less than ten seconds. It then reverts to the dull "no effects" style.
However the files beneath the Places Menu remain in high graphics mode as do Files on the Desktop. Any assistance would be gratefully received. Thank you.
My graphics card is a Radeon hd5770 HDMI with proprietry driver installed
Open a terminal and paste this (I would have said to use ALT + F2 but in Unity, you can't paste inside the ALT + F2 dialog):
gksudo gedit /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-settings-daemon.desktop
In the gnome-settings-daemon.desktop file, replace the following line:
Exec=/usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/gnome-settings-daemon
With this:
Exec=bash -c "sleep 5; /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/gnome-settings-daemon"
