XP won't take me to Login & PW prompt after booting up..

[jhoover]

I tried to boot up this AM and everything seemed normal. The requisite "IBM logo" and "Inter Centrino logo" appeared. Then I saw the normal Windows-is-starting notification dialog box.

BUT, then the screen goes blank -- all black background with just the pointer-cursor appearing. I can move the pointer-cursor but no dialog box pops up asking for my login ID and PW. (I have an X40.)

I'm running the diagnostic from IBM access and so far, everything seems okay. The test is 64% done and everything's passed...so far...

Possible reasons:
1. I have to use Novell to login to Windows -- required by my school in order to access the network -- even when I'm not trying to get onto the network (I just check the "workstation" box). Historically, this Novell has caused login probs for my classmates -- random problems that don't seem to make sense.
2. I let my roommate use my laptop for a paper last night and its possible that he inadvertently infected my computer with a virus? (Seems unlikely, as not permitting me to login to Windows through Novell doesn't seem like the work of a virus?)

What do you guys think? I have a midterm on Tues and all my notes are on the lappy. If I can't access them, I'm royally screwed.



Thanks for your help in advance!

[jhoover]

Phew! Finally working...darn Novell is giving me headaches...I'm just going to uninstall it.

[Kenn]

Networking is always an issue with windows. Sometimes you have to wait up to 2 minutes at the cursor for the rest of the desktop to appear, because it's scanning for an active network.