i need some help and not mentally
i have a dell 9200 lap top with a 60gb hd 1 gb of ram running windows xp
after start up it hangs up upon trying to open the 2nd program and will do know more! i can't shut down normally i have to use the power off button in lieu of the shut down screen. i have run 3 virus scans and various adware removal programs to no avail any ideas
thanks

What is the "second program"?

Does one program work? Is the second program always the same program?

Is this a new problem?

In general freezes are hardware issues and often heat related.

it does not matter which two programs it can be outlook then mozzilla or excel and word it's sometimes it doesn't make it to the second program the initial program just locks up. I try to restart and nothing happens nothing works until i reboot. everything works fine in safe mode though.this is a new problem to answer the uestion.

Try a System restore to a point prior to the problem:

start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System restore

Funny I just had exactly the same problem as you on a Dell Laptop Inspiron 600m (with 60 GB HD, 512 MB RAM, XP home sp 2, Pentium M 1.6 Ghz). Seems like a bit too much of a coincidence to me, maybe we both just got some updates or something that screwed things up.

Mine started working after I ran a scan with Kaspersky antivirus which found a virus in an email attachment. (which I don't think I had ever opened, however.) I also ran Dell automatic PC Tuneup (click on Dell support).

Hope this helps, if not, perhaps Dell Support knows something about it.