How do you fix your computer which boots up but then displays a black screen with active mouse cursor?

Not much information to start with, but this is a start that most people could do.

Start with the basics;

- boot in safemode and run a chkdsk from prompt

- run a virus scan

- if an application was installed before the hang, uninstall in safemode

- try a system restore to a date prior to the problem

- boot from CD and run a recovery

- restore from backup (if you backed up your system)

- if you have an image, revert back to it.