Finder doesn't start at login, can't logout/restart

After installing 10.5 I got the desktop screen without any icons or the menu bar. I was able to see the dock fine, so I clicked on Finder (it wasn't running) and started it. I thought everything was fine at this point, but after running Software Update the Mac wouldn't reboot, giving me various errors each time that a different application wouldn't quit and was preventing logout. In each case the application DID quit successfully. I have tried to manually select Logout User..., Restart... and Shut Down... however after the finder quits I get a message that the Finder won't quit and so the task cannot be accomplished. The only way to try again is to start up the Finder again and select an option which results in the same error.

This may not be a great help, but it's what I'm in the process of doing to solve the same issue on my mac mini.
I'm booting from the Mac 10.5 install DVD again, then when it's asking me where I'd like to install, I'm going to the disk utility, from the menu at the top.
From there, I've selected my boot disk and (not the partition) and clicked new image. I then saved the image to an external drive.
Once that's finished, I'm going to do an erase an install.
Once the install is complete, I'll mount the dmg file I created and use Migration assistant to get all my settings and programs back.
It's a PITA, but I'm a big believer of wiping things and starting from scratch if an upgrade doesn't go well.
If you like, I'll post back when I'm done to let you know if this worked?

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