Hi there everyone.

I'm currently trying to help my friend with her Toshiba laptop. It's a
'Tecra S2' for what it's worth, running XP.

Basically, upon logging in XP loads as normal, brings up the
desktop/task bar etc, and then....

Nothing.

The mouse pointer still moves, but no clicks (left OR right) are
recognised.

No keystrokes seem to be recognised either. Ctrl-Alt-Delete does
nothing.

Now, I've tried booting in safe mode and this produces a somewhat usable
system. I can run msconfig.exe and have attempted rebooting after
disabling all startup items. This seems to have no effect on the
problem though.

This problem affects *both* user accounts, and the machine is
essentially unusable.

Attempting to boot using 'Last Known Good Configuration' has no effect
either.

If it's of any use, the last task completed on this machine was the
importing of a couple of albums worth of music into iTunes, which it did
without any troubles.

Now, I haven't had a great deal to do with Windows previously, so I'm
wondering:

Is there anything in the way of a Disk repair/diagnostic utility as part
of the OS, eg the Windows equivalent of something like 'fsck' in unix?

What other options should I try with msconfig?

FWIW, I'm happy enough running stuff from the command line too.


ANY help is appreciated with this one, I've really got no idea how both
user accounts could be ruined by simply rebooting.

Cheers,
Andy.

Andy wrote:
> Hi there everyone.
>
> I'm currently trying to help my friend with her Toshiba laptop. It's a
> 'Tecra S2' for what it's worth, running XP.
>
> Basically, upon logging in XP loads as normal, brings up the
> desktop/task bar etc, and then....
>
> Nothing.
>
> The mouse pointer still moves, but no clicks (left OR right) are
> recognised.
>
> No keystrokes seem to be recognised either. Ctrl-Alt-Delete does
> nothing.
>
> Now, I've tried booting in safe mode and this produces a somewhat usable
> system. I can run msconfig.exe and have attempted rebooting after
> disabling all startup items. This seems to have no effect on the
> problem though.
>
> This problem affects *both* user accounts, and the machine is
> essentially unusable.
>
> Attempting to boot using 'Last Known Good Configuration' has no effect
> either.
>
> If it's of any use, the last task completed on this machine was the
> importing of a couple of albums worth of music into iTunes, which it did
> without any troubles.
>
> Now, I haven't had a great deal to do with Windows previously, so I'm
> wondering:
>
> Is there anything in the way of a Disk repair/diagnostic utility as part
> of the OS, eg the Windows equivalent of something like 'fsck' in unix?
>
> What other options should I try with msconfig?
>
> FWIW, I'm happy enough running stuff from the command line too.

Windows has Chkdsk instead of fsck, but don't use it yet because if the
hard drive is failing, data can be lost. If your friend has neglected to
back up her data, do it now by booting with Knoppix. I'm sure you know
how to do this, but here are general instructions just in case:

*****
You will need a computer with two cd drives, one of which is a cd/dvd-rw
OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to hold your data OR an
external usb/firewire hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS). To get
Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast Internet connection and
third-party burning software. Download the Knoppix .iso and create your
bootable cd. Then boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows
files. If you are using the usb thumb drive or the external hard drive,
right-click on its icon (on the Desktop) to get its properties and
uncheck the box that says "Read Only". Then click on it to open it. Note
that the default mouse action in the window manager used by Knoppix
(KDE) is a single click to open instead of the traditional MS Windows'
double-click. If you want to burn CD/DVDs, use the K3b program.

http://www.knoppix.net
*****

Once the data is safely retrieved, run a hard drive diagnostic with a
diagnostic utility downloaded from the drive mftr.'s website. You will
create a bootable CD with the file you download. You will need
third-party burning software to do this such as Roxio, Nero, or the free
CDBurnerXP Pro.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ (or of course you can use whatever burning
program you've got in *nix as long as it can burn .iso's)

Boot with the CD you made and do a thorough test of the drive. If it
fails any physical tests, replace it.

If the hardware tests good, go back into Windows and do two things:

1. Look in Event Viewer for clues. Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [enter]
2. Run a System Restore to when the computer worked.
Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore

If this is more work than you want to do and/or you aren't skilled in
working with Windows, your friend should take the machine to a
professional computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad).

Post back if you need more help.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Andy wrote:
> Hi there everyone.
>
> I'm currently trying to help my friend with her Toshiba laptop. It's
> a 'Tecra S2' for what it's worth, running XP.
>
> Basically, upon logging in XP loads as normal, brings up the
> desktop/task bar etc, and then....
>
> Nothing.
>
> The mouse pointer still moves, but no clicks (left OR right) are
> recognised.
>
> No keystrokes seem to be recognised either. Ctrl-Alt-Delete does
> nothing.
>
> Now, I've tried booting in safe mode and this produces a somewhat
> usable system. I can run msconfig.exe and have attempted rebooting
> after disabling all startup items. This seems to have no effect on
> the problem though.

The first thing that came into my head on reading your post was an
inversion of the mouse/kb plugs.

Just and idea but simple enought to check.

"John of Aix" <j.murphy@libertysurf.fr> wrote in message
news:4783ca28$0$886$ba4acef3@news.orange.fr...
> Andy wrote:
>> Hi there everyone.
>>
>> I'm currently trying to help my friend with her Toshiba laptop. It's
>> a 'Tecra S2' for what it's worth, running XP.
>
the problem though.
<snip>
> The first thing that came into my head on reading your post was an
> inversion of the mouse/kb plugs.
>
> Just and idea but simple enought to check.
>

It's a laptop

Onsokumaru wrote:
> "John of Aix" <j.murphy@libertysurf.fr> wrote in message
> news:4783ca28$0$886$ba4acef3@news.orange.fr...
>> Andy wrote:
>>> Hi there everyone.
>>>
>>> I'm currently trying to help my friend with her Toshiba laptop. It's
>>> a 'Tecra S2' for what it's worth, running XP.
>>
> the problem though.
> <snip>
>> The first thing that came into my head on reading your post was an
>> inversion of the mouse/kb plugs.
>>
>> Just and idea but simple enought to check.
>>
>
> It's a laptop

Ah yes, sorry, I didn't notice. In that case it would be very hard
indeed to invert them :-)

the most incomprehensible of all, we are incomprehensible to
ourselves. The knot of our condition takes its twists and turns in this
abyss, so that man is more inconceivable without this mystery than this
mystery is inconceivable to man.

Whence it seems that God, willing to render the difficulty of our existence
unintelligible to ourselves, has concealed the knot so high, or, better
speaking, so low, that we are quite incapable of reaching it; so that it is
not by the proud exertions of our reason, but by the simple submissions of
reason, that we can truly know ourselves.

These foundations, solidly established on the inviolable authority of
religion, make us know that there are two truths of faith equally certain:
the one, that man, in the state of creation, or in that of grace, is raised
above all nature, made like unto God and sharing in His divinity; the other,
that in the state of corruption and sin, he is fallen from this state and
made like unto the beasts.

These two propositions are equally sound and certain. Scripture manifestly
declares this to us, when it says in some places: Deliciae meae esse cum
filiis hominum.65 Effundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem.66 Dii estis,67
etc.; and in other places, Omnis caro faenum.68 Homo assimilatus est
jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis.69 Dixi in corde meo de
filiis hominum.70

Whence it clearly seems that man by grace is made like unto God, and a
partaker in His divinity, and that without grace he is like unto the brute
beasts.

435. Without this divine knowledge what could men do but either become
elated by the inner feeling of their past g

to contribute to render solemn the spirits of many
young persons; and there began evidently to appear more of a religious
concern on people's minds.

In the fall of the year I proposed it to the young people, that they
should agree among themselves to spend the evenings after lectures in
social religion, and to that end divide themselves into several
companies to meet in various parts of the town; which was accordingly
done, and those meetings have been since continued, and the example
imitated by elder people. This was followed with the death of an elderly
person, which was attended with many unusual circumstances, by which
many were much moved and affected.

About this time began the great noise, in this part of the country,
about Arminianism, which seemed to appear with a very threatening aspect
upon the interest of religion here. The friends of vital piety trembled
for fear of the issue; but it seemed, contrary to their fear, strongly
to be overruled for the promoting of religion. Many who looked on
themselves as in a Christless condition, seemed to be awakened by it,
with fear that God was about to withdraw from the land, and that we
should be given up to heterodoxy and corrupt principles; and that then
their opportunity for obtaining salvation would be past. Many who were
brought a little to doubt about the truth of the doctrines they had
hitherto been taught, seemed to have a kind of trembling fear with their
doubts, lest they should be led into bypaths, to their eternal undoing;
and they seemed, with much concern and engagedness of mind, to inquire
what was indeed the way in which they must come to be accepted with God.
There were some things said publicly on that o

impressions on the
imaginations as have been more usual seem to me to be plainly no other
than what is to be expected in human nature in such circumstances, and
what is the natural result of the strong exercise of the mind, and
impressions on the heart.

I do not suppose, that they themselves imagine they saw any thing with
their bodily eyes; but only have had within them ideas strongly
impressed, and as it were lively pictures in their minds. For instance,
some when in great terrors, through fear of hell, have had lively ideas
of a dreadful furnace. Some, when their hearts have been strongly
impressed, and their affections greatly moved with a sense of the beauty
and excellency of Christ, have had their imaginations so wrought upon,
that, together, with a sense of His glorious spiritual perfections,
there has arisen in the mind an idea of One of glorious majesty, and of
a sweet and gracious aspect. Some, when they have been greatly affected
with Christ's death, have at the same time a lively idea of Christ
hanging upon the cross, and His blood running from His wounds. Surely
such things will not be wondered at by them who have observed how any
strong affections about temporal matters will excite lively ideas and
pictures of different things in the mind.

The vigorous exercises of the mind, doubtless, more strongly impress it
with imaginary ideas in some than others, which probably may arise from
the difference of constitution, and seems evidently in some, part

is worthy to be loved and
admired; and they have desired to be loved and admired of men and do not
know their own corruption. If they feel full of feelings of love and
admiration and find therein their chief delight, very well, let them think
themselves good. But if they find themselves averse to Him, if they have no
inclination but the desire to establish themselves in the esteem of men, and
if their whole perfection consists only in making men--but without
constraint--find their happiness in loving them, I declare that this
perfection is horrible. What! they have known God and have not desired
solely that men should love Him, but that men should stop short at them!
They have wanted to be the object of the voluntary delight of men.

464. Philosophers.--We are full of things which take us out of ourselves.

Our instinct makes us feel that we must seek our happiness outside
ourselves. Our passions impel us outside, even when no objects present
themselves to excite them. External objects tempt us of themselves, and call
to us, even when we are not thinking of them. And thus philosophers have
said in vain: "Retire within yourselves, you will find your good there." We
do not believe them, and those who believe them are the most empty and the
most foolish.

465. The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find
your rest."

And that is not true.

Others say, "Go out of yourselves; seek happiness in amusement." And this is
not true. Illness comes.

Happiness is neither without us nor within us. It is in God, both without us
and within us.

466. Had Epictetus seen the way perfectly, he would have said to men, "You
follow a wrong road"; he shows that there is another, but he does not lead
to it. It is the way of willing what God wills. Jesus Christ alone leads to

Andy wrote:
> Hi there everyone.
>
> I'm currently trying to help my friend with her Toshiba laptop. It's a
> 'Tecra S2' for what it's worth, running XP.
>
> Basically, upon logging in XP loads as normal, brings up the
> desktop/task bar etc, and then....
>
> Nothing.
>
> The mouse pointer still moves, but no clicks (left OR right) are
> recognised.
>
> No keystrokes seem to be recognised either. Ctrl-Alt-Delete does
> nothing.
>
> Now, I've tried booting in safe mode and this produces a somewhat usable
> system. I can run msconfig.exe and have attempted rebooting after
> disabling all startup items. This seems to have no effect on the
> problem though.
>
First, what kind of Antivirus program are you running (Norton, McAfee,
etc)? A few ideas:

- You might be able to run the standard virus check by doing a boot of
the Antivirus installation CD.
- Boot into safe mode, download and run a RootKit virus detector from
McAfee.
- Boot into safe mode and use Boot Logging. You might see a driver or
something that's causing the problem. From Win XP Help -- "Starts while
logging all the drivers and services that were loaded (or not loaded) by
the system to a file. This file is called ntbtlog.txt and it is located
in the %windir% directory. Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, and
Safe Mode with Command Prompt add to the boot log a list of all the
drivers and services that are loaded. The boot log is useful in
determining the exact cause of system startup problems."
> This problem affects *both* user accounts, and the machine is
> essentially unusable.
>
> Attempting to boot using 'Last Known Good Configuration' has no effect
> either.
>
A few more ideas:

- Have you installed any software recently? Perhaps your iTunes program
has a bug or virus. You might be able to revert to a recent Checkpoint
using System Restore (?).
- I've seen this kind of problem when incompatible drivers try to share
interrupts.
- I've also had problem with the _order_ that drivers are installed upon
booting... But that kind of problem is a real pain to find.
> If it's of any use, the last task completed on this machine was the
> importing of a couple of albums worth of music into iTunes, which it did
> without any troubles.
>
> Now, I haven't had a great deal to do with Windows previously, so I'm
> wondering:
>
> Is there anything in the way of a Disk repair/diagnostic utility as part
> of the OS, eg the Windows equivalent of something like 'fsck' in unix?
>
> What other options should I try with msconfig?
>
> FWIW, I'm happy enough running stuff from the command line too.
>
> ANY help is appreciated with this one, I've really got no idea how both
> user accounts could be ruined by simply rebooting.
>
> Cheers,
> Andy.
>
Good Luck -- Keith