nm-applet gone from panel

[Joao Ferreira gmail <joao miguel c ferreira gmail com>]

Hello,

A friend of mine showed me a computer in which the nm-applet control
icon (top-right corner) does not appear.

It used to be there before but - he does not know why - it's gone.

I verified the options in "System -> Preferences -> Startup
Applications" and the nm-applet option is correctly selected.

I can not understando why it does not appear. We even tried to create a
fresh new user and the applet appears just good for this fresh user.

Can anyone point how to restore the nm-applet to the right place for
that user ?

Thank you.

Joao