Can't logon to Windows???

My father in law gave me his laptop as an extra but he told me that it doesn't work and maybe I could get it to work. I don't know a whole lot about computers but I follow directions pretty well. Please help!
When I power on the computer it does the Windows XP home edition screen with the running thing letting you know it is loading. Then the logon screen comes up with 3 names. Apparently the computer has worked in the past because my husbands name is on it. I logged onto his (as well as all the others when his didn't seem to work) and all I see it a Dell background...no icons. I am able to bring up the task manager but I don't really know what to do with it. Incase you need to know, it is a Dell Inspiron 2650 supposedly running Windows XP.
Thanks!

it sounds like Explorer is not running.

TRY:
open task manager
click "File"
click "New Task (Run...)"
then in the box type "explorer.exe" and press enter.

sometimes doing that will fix it for next time you log on, so you dont have to keep doing it.

Nope, I supposedly log on, hear the music, see the Dell screen and nothing. It says, when I typed in explorer.exe, "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Folder Options control panel." I have received that error for ALMOST everything that I type in under run.

hmmm... sounds like all the file associations have messed up.

try and run "CMD" in task manager, if that works.
then in the "CMD" type in "sfc /scannow"

if you are able to this, wait for it to finish then reboot.

see if this works, and i will see if i can think of a solution in the mean time

also can you successfully boot into safe mode?

Just checking...go to file, new task (run...), and type in CMD? If that is the case, it gives me the same error.
As for entering safe mode, it's just a black screen. I don't even get the Dell background. I can still open the task manager though.

yeah that was correct.

i think i know how to fix it but as your so limited to what you can do, i am having great difficulty thinking of a way around it.

Maybe a system format is on the horizon for this machine

I follow directions really well so if any geeks have ideas, I'm all ears. Please...!

Bnasexton:

Did your father-in-law give you a restore disk? If so, I think the best thing to do is to simply put it in & boot the computer from it. I'm not 1 to just randomly kill all data on a computer, but since it wasn't yours & you don't have data on it, that really seems to me to be the quickest solution. I'm thinking doing anything else will probably take more time than it's worth & may very well still not fix the problem.

If Dad doesn't have such a disk, then a) it might be on a separate partition such as d: or b) you might be able to order 1 from Dell.

You could also try hitting f8 as the computer starts & see if a repair/recovery option is available, but I really think at this point the restore disk is the best bet.

He did not give me any disks. I personally have a Dell Inspiron 1501 where the one he gave me is a 2650. I have these disks from my computer: an Operating System Disk (it says Reinstallation DVD for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Version 2005 with Update Rollup) and a Drivers and Utilities Disk (it says for Reinstalling Dell Inspiron 1501 Computer Software). Will these work. Again, I'm not very computer literate but I do follow directions pretty well so sorry for the dumb questions. Anyway, these are the only 2 disks I could find for my computer (besides different programs to load later...Roxio, Microsoft Works Suite 2006, etc.) In the meantime, until I hear from someone here, I will check the prices of restore disks for that particular computer.

OK...I wanted to add that I tried the Operating System Disk because it doesn't specify a particular Inspiron. It just says "For Distribution Only With a New Dell PC." When you power on the laptop you can enter the BIOS by hitting F2. I went to the boot screen and made CD-ROM first. Not sure if it should have a ! in front of it or not. I had that option by clicking Shift 1. Anyway, I tried it both ways. One way did nothing more than start me like normal by going to the Windows log on screen...I pick my username, hear the music and then get the Dell background with nothing else...no icons. Sill I can get into the task manager. The other way I tried it, it told me operating system not found. Um...I thought I was trying to boot from the disk. I didn't even get an option to press any key to boot from disk. What did I do wrong?