Why are my preferences reset after restart with Mavericks? My desktop wallpaper, the desktop icons - the file preview icon goes away, my default sound device, all get reset back to the default after a restart.

I removed the com.apple.desktop.plist from the Library folder, but it still reset.

How can I fix this?
Have you tried repairing the permissions on your home folder?  Sounds like the Finder is having trouble writing the necessary preference files.