Finder not working

[Redrodney]

Hi, having just upgraded to Lion 10.7.4 from Snow Leopard I find I can't access my files, folders or even applications any more through Finder. No response from anything on the top menu, and when I get a Finder window open (by clicking on the Finder icon in the Dock) it's empty. Searching for folders I know I have, whether through Spotlight or Go to Folder, produces no results. I can access documents through the app that opens them as long as that app is in the dock, but have no other way of seeing or retrieving any files, folders or applications. Force quitting Finder has no effect and I have reset to default User Permissions and ACLs through the Reset Password facility in Terminal. I have also created a new user which doesn't have these problems, so assume it must be my account. Any advice? I am running an iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB RAM 667MHz and all software is up to date.