It would help to know some particulars. How did you install XP. Was this an upgrade package or did you clean install it?
 
After it installed, did you immediately have this problem or did it develop later?
 
There are several things that could be done especially since you can get into safe mode, but it is easier to target possible solutions if you could give us more information.

prob 1st surfaced sumtime aftr installation of a new NIC (netowrk intrface card - D Link Fast Ethernet Adapter DFE 582TX). after installatn, the pc was working fine. but one day when the system was switched on, it hung after the Login screen. this problem continued for long time.
 
finally it was decided to format drive and go for fresh win xp installtion.
 
here is wht i did fr installation:
1. inserted cd and switched on pc.
2. installation files loaded.
3. selected drive (drive C) to install xp on.
4. formatted drive (fat32).
5. i get a new screen (this time with mouse).
5. devices beeing installed.
6. after devices r installed, i get a dialog box for setting my regional time settings. it was here tht the system hung quite a few times. however i tried the setup procedures over and over again and finally it worked (installation continued without freezing on "regional & network settings").
7. finally xp is loaded and i get to the login screen.
8. soon after i select my account name, a get to the desktop and this is where the system hangs. i havent been able to fix this.
9. i tried "safe mode with networking" and contacted u. mouse/keybord donot freeze in safe mode.
 
system is not hung on the whole bcoz time changes in taskbar and screensaver also gets activated after stipulated 10 minutes.

Are your keyboard and Mouse USB devices? Right now it is looking like the NIC is the culprit. This first glance could be deceiving becuase you could have had some kind of spyware originally that mucked things up before your decision to re-install XP.
 
You've probably done this but right click on My Computer, select Properties, then Hardware tab, then Device Manager button. It will bring your to your devices like the keyboard, mouse and NIC. Are there any yellow "!" by these devices? If not, you can click on each to see if the same memory is being used by some or they are in conflict with another device.
 
It is totally up to you, but at this stage you could, eliminating these devices, let's say the mouse first, then have Windows re-install it and see if it will come up. Then, you might try the keyboard, then, with the NIC (see if there is a device driver that was supplied with that NIC and install it.
 
Two other questions: 1) is yours a VIA based motherboard, and 2) everyone has their own reason for choosing Fat32 over NTFS, (and you don't have to answer this) but why did you make this choice.

yes, mouse and keyboard are both usb devices.
 
we have replaced the old nic card with a new one. i did not install the drivers seperately as winxp recognised and installed the drivers on its own. (i m working on net rite now, so i assume the installation of ethernet card is ok).
 
i checked device manager. there is no yellow (!) mark anywhere. i selected each device and then their properties. there was "no conflict" under the "recources" tab in each of them.
 
i donot know wht a via based motherboard is. how do i find out?
 
there is no specific reason for choosing fat32 over ntfs. ive heard tht win98 can b installed only on fat32 and not on ntfs. so just in case i need to install win98 in the future, i have formatted all my drives on fat32 only.
 
 
 
 

**usually most of my problemas r related to direct x. (i dunno y). so i upgraded to direct x 9.c. nothing happened.

Hello Misaal,
 
You said that your computer is working fine in safe mode but it gives you these problems in normal mode.You hae already checked up the device manager and all seems fine.I think that there is some startup progrm that is causing problems.I would like you to perform these steps and let me know if it worked for you.The steps are as follows :
 
(1.)Click on START and then click on RUN.
 
(2.)Type MSCONFIG and hit OK
 
(3.)Go to STARTUP tab and click on DISABLE ALL.(We can enable your Antivirus and DSL programs later)
 
(4.)Click on APPLY and then click on CLOSE.Click on RESTART and let it restart normally.
 
(5.)If it boots back normally, 'Check' the message "Do not show this message on startup......"on System Configuration Utility window.
 
Now try and use your computer in the normal mode and tell me if its working fine.
Also tell me the name of your Antivirus software and your internet connection type.
 
Thanks,
 
Kzhitij

You can do as kzhtij has suggested, but since you clean installed the system, I suspect that there is nothhing there.
 
Answer to one question: What is VIA? If your board uses a chipset with the Via4-in-1 drivers, you may have to re-install a newer version. I suspect that you do not have a VIA board. Just go to Google and type in your motherboard's manufacturer and number and it will tell you.
 
What seems to be happening because your keyboard and mouse are not coming up normally is that your network card and the drivers are being loaded first blocking access to your USB ports. When you bring it up in safe mode, the USB device is loaded first and that's why you have access to the USB controlled devices.
 
You could remove your NIC and remove it as a device from your Device Manager. Bring up the system and see if your keyboard and mouse will work in normal Windows bootup. If it does. You could then power it down, put in your NIC again and then go to your BIOS to see whether your keyboard and mouse are disabled (that is they are not useing the PS/2 ports). If your keyboard and mouse return to their functionality, let it boot into Windows, and when Windows finds your new Hardware, I would use the device driver supplied for the NIC by the manufacturer.
 
As to Fat32 - even if you were to install 98 on that machine, you would not want to install it on the same partition as XP. You should create a second partition and install 98 to it. Then, make the XP partition NTFS.

i checked out msconfig, but there was nothing there.
 
hey thanx sampson, yur trick worked!
i removed my nic card frm its slot. switched on pc, went to normal mode, and checked my mouse/keyboard. they were working.
 
i noticed tht whenever i plugged my printer cable to pc socket and nic card in its slot & switched on pc, my usb devices froze. so i m using only the nic card and detached my printer fr the time being.

Another thing about 98, installing it after you've installed XP is a no-no, unless you know what you are doing. 98 can't see NTFS drives, and FAT32 drives are far less secure than NTFS.
 
Just out of curiousity, why would you want you drive to be able to have 98 on it? You have XP, so you know how much better it is, why put an inferior OS on it too?
 
BTW, check for a BIOS update for your mobo, may solve the printer/NIC conflict.

there r some programs that donot work well on winxp (atleast on my comp it doesnt). such as turbo c+,etc.
 
i need to work on these programs fr my coll asignmnts. so i need win98 fr these programs only and the like...no other reason.