Ubuntu :: Installed Program Opening With Blank Screen

I am using ubuntu 10.04 and after installing some programs using the package manager I try to open the program and all I get is the title bar and a blank white screen. I searched the forums and found a thread from awhile back saying to create a new user and see if it persists. I tried that and it does the same thing in the new user. One in particular is gnucash. The program sometimes works but the tutorial does the white screen. I also reinstalled the package several times with no luck. Other packages do the same thing like thunderbird.