Sometimes on my Windows XP SP2 machine (like right now as I type this) I cannot open any applications. When I do click on a shortcut from the quick start menu or the start menu the mouse pointer shows the hourglass for a few seconds then stops and the application does not appear. however it seems like the app is loading. When this happens I have to restart.

Clicking on 'My Computer' on the desktop or in the start menu opens an explorer window no problems.

I cannot see what background tasks are running as I cannot even get the task manager to show.

However, i do have these apps open at the moment (as I can see from task manager and start bar):

  • SSH Secure shell (www.ssh.com)
  • Firefox
  • EditPlus
  • Navicat MySQL client (www.navicat.com)
  • Winamp
  • Outlook 2003
  • Mailwasher Pro
  • Last.FM client (www.last.fm) (problem was happening before I installed this)
  • ATI Catalyst control centre
  • Deskpins (a util for pinning apps to front of screen) (problem was happening before I installed this)
  • MSN Messenger
  • McAfee VirusScan Enterprise


When it happens i cannot even switch user as the welcome screen does not appear.

Hardware:

  • 2.6Ghz Pentium 4
  • ATI Radeon 9600XT
  • Abit IC-7 motherboard
  • 1GB RAM
  • Netgear MA311 11b(?) wifi card


Anyone else experienced this. it's very annoying cos if you do forget that it prevents switching users then you lose all your work because you cannot get back to the desktop (even hibernating does not fix it).

Pete