Can you describe "not responding" mode? I am running WinXPPro on a new Dell 1150 and twice now, when I boot up, XP has started apparently correctly, but it will not allow me to launch any applications. All the utility windows and alerts work fine but no applications launch. You can't even shut the machine down via the GUI, you have to mash the button down until it cold-stops. Have you had this happen? The first time a cold-start system restore fixed things, and a Dell rep told me never to download Microsoft critical updates (!) because they can corrupt the system. The second time, yesterday, I did the disk-based XP boot and after 45 minutes the system said it had fixed multiple errors but didn't name them.

The system in general seems to labor and suffer and grind away with more than two apps open and at first I thought it was Dell's fault but now I have The Fear about XPPro. I don't want to walk into a client presentation, boot up, and have the thing just freeze up on me.