This won't be much help but with the mouse pointer showing, can you right-click and get a menu? If so, when you select properties, does a dialogue box appear?

I have encountered this as well.  The way I resolved it was simply re-installing the OS over the top of my current one. 

I booted from my XP CD, then did a Repair instead of a new installation.  Then just chose install.  After the long installation, I let it go and TADA! my password prompt and UserID box was back. 

 

Don't know why it worked or why it did what it did to get there.  All I know is that it fixed it and maintained all the data on my hard drive.  Granted I did have to do some updates from Windows Update, but that didn't matter to me.  I was just happy to get my beloved Compy back.

 

Good luck man!  Wish you the best.

Thank you for your help. But I've run into another problem. I installed Windows XP side-by-side with the last version I had. I did that because as I went to re-install Windows it asked if I wanted to delete the old version or create a new folder. And above that it said "My Documents may also be deleted". So I created a new folder and I now have 2 versions of XP on my comp. The latest one works fine but when I try to access the old version it still shows a blank screen as before.

I've tried to repair during setup but it didn't work. I tried to access My Docments from my previous version, using the new version, but it says access denied etc. I thought about trying to transfer the whole folder to a laptop but need the cable, but if I can't access it I don't think I'll be able to copy it!

So stressed!!! I can't afford to lose the stuff in My Documents otherwise I would just format the hard disk. There's stuff on there I wud never be able to get again!! I shud have backed it all up. If anyone can help me PLEASE DO!!! Then I will definately back-up everything like I should have in the first place.

G