Window controls (min, max, move) have gone missing

I should have left well alone but my wife did not like the xscreensaver login popup that appeared when I upgraded her system to Lubuntu 20.04 so I tried a different screensaver (sddm) which I specified in the preferences… session manager. Nothing went obviously wrong until she logged out and back in.
Two main differences:
The login popup is a lot nicer, it’s the one I’ve read in lots of places is the default, but it wasn’t what I got earlier. Problem solved there…but
There is a pulldown in the upper right of the screen offering me what looks like different window managers eg openbox lubuntu and another one. That wasn’t there before.
And then there’s the actual problem. None of the windows have their usual decoration (max, min and drag). So it means they can’t be positioned on the screen. This is a show stopper.
I know solving this is just a matter of picking the right settings but I don’t know what they are, so unless I get some advice I’m going to have to reinstall Lubuntu.
Is this enough information for someone to help?
Thanks

A few things confuse me.

Upgraded from where? from 19.10? or something else? This is a hugely important question.

You also mention “different screensaver” where Lubuntu has used xscreensaver for a long time but then mention sddm (the simple desktop display manager) which is a different thing to a screensaver…

Lubuntu has used sddm on all LXQt releases (ie. Lubuntu 18.10 & later), however used a different DM before then, which brings me to the prior question; upgraded from where?

Your question seems to be about Window Manager Preferences and your chosen session, but for me the critical point is upgraded from where?

If you upgraded from a LXDE release, then that could be your problem. There is a reason Lubuntu didn’t support that upgrade and has stated in all releases from 18.10 up something like

Note, due to the extensive changes required for the shift in desktop environments, the Lubuntu team does not support upgrading from 18.04 or below to any greater release. Doing so will result in a broken system. If you are on 18.04 or below and would like to upgrade, please do a fresh install.

If you want to switch Window Managers; it’s not selected at login, but if you check the manual (https://manual.lubuntu.me/lts/3/3.2/3.2.13/session_settings.html) you’ll see it’s set in LXQt Session Settings.

However to start with, upgraded from where? (from Lubuntu 19.10 or a LXQt release, or from something else which is unsupported due to problems…)

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Wow, quick reply!
Sorry about my sloppy language. She was on 19.04 but I installed from scratch, so not an upgrade, a new install. However the good news is after a bit of random tinkering on my part, mostly setting the sddm setting back to xscreensaver and rebooting, it has come right, or close enough to it. I’ll read up on that reference to the session settings.
thanks for the help

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