Windows XP blue screen at login prompt

is here a usb device connected?
my ipod was stalling my xp at the same spot for 5 min

No nothing is connected to it ... I even brought it back to my house and tried it with just my monitor, keyboard and mouse. It doesn't matter how long I wait, the dialog box never appears

no safe mode boot? (F8 before windows start)

Tried that ... everything loads but the logon screen

it could be a service not starting
but it seems you can no longer control that ;)

does CTRL ALT DEL work? so you can kill a process blocking the loading?
or start a "explorer.exe" as new application

option 1:
wait more for a better answer here

option 2:
you can install windows over windows and save the important data (long)
then make a fresh install

option 3:
connect the drive in slave or usb on another computer, save important data
reformat windows

can you connect to it remotely?  if not, how about a system restore?

Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and then press F8 during the initial startup to start your computer in Safe Mode with a command prompt.

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
315222 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/) A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

That is the problem .... there is no logon screen what-so-ever ..... Safe Mode / Safe Mode w/Networking / Regular Mode .... no logon screen! .... It's just the blue screen before the logon screen, ctrl + alt + del doesn't do anything, but there is a mouse, you can see and move the mouse ... just can't do anything.

so I assume you can still get to "Safe mode with a command prompt", right?  My instructions were for running the System Restore tool at a command prompt... this way at least you don't have to re-install windows.

I'm not able to access "safe mode with a command prompt" because it doesn't allow me to log onto the system. Everything loads but the logon prompt.

sorry  - when I go to the "safe mode with a command prompt" option, I get a recovery console option... you don't get that?

No ... it goes to where the logon screen should come up but thats it ..... Nothing more

ok - how about other bootable media options (like install or rcovery disc that came with the system)?  I realize this is all kind of a stretch if there's no system restore points...

Sounds like you infected with spyware. Download UBCD4Win fro www.ubcd4win.com, create a Boot CD following the how to guide on the website and use the anti spyware tools located on the cd to scan ur drive. another option is to disconnect the hard drive and slave it in another pc and scan it from there.

Ok ill give that a shot, I've wasted so much time trying to fix it i could have rebuilt it by now