This is a bug I have personally never encountered before, and I'm stumped.
 
It shows like this, suddenly windows no longer reacts to mouse clicks, and not any "ordinary" keys on the keyboard.
 
Win-key always works, and ctrl alt delete works, although just to a point.
Start menu shows up, but cant click and mouse doesn't highlight anything.
But I can see the pointer etc, sometimes pressing ctraltdel, and logging out works (THAT menu all buttons usually work)
 
It doesn't appear to be any software doing it, nothing boots any more with windows. burner software etc, everything with drivers gone.
 
I can't find a culprit, it's completely random, sometimes when reading the cd, sometimes when just minimizing an application, and sometimes it doesn't happen for several minutes.
 
I installed and started a game which I played for 2 hours on it, then back to desktop, and nothing worked again.
 
Occasionally a re-login unlocks everything again, sometimes it just doesn't work at all until reboot..
 
There's an ECS Nforce 4 based AM2 mobo in there, which is the only non standard item in. New bios, and new drivers, nothing altered anything.
Mouse and KB separate but have been replaced. Used PS2 and USB, no change.
 
Big oddity is the computer never locks up, if an installation is going, it goes to finish just like nothing, windows just never reacts to clicks or button presses.
 
Bust mobo?

 
I don't think so. Bust OS ? Could be YES. Have you tried re-installing your OS ?

Hmmm...btw, are you using wireless mouse and/or keyboard ?

Was kinda hoping not to have to reinstall windoze, damn boring.
 
Yes on wireless mouse and KB but the old ones and the new have fresh batteries and work. New kb/mouse since 24hours
 
So far, unplugging the DVD-writer, seems to have solved it :S

CTRL+ALT+DEL, Task Manager, Processes tab
 
Select explorer.exe and End Process
 
If Start Menu/Icons don't come back up...
 
Click the Applications tab then New Task...
 
Type explorer.exe and click OK
 
Hope this helps. It's not a permanent fix but my computer pulls the same stuff yours does now and again (pretty sporadically really) and that's what I do.

Unfortunately, I can't click on the task manager when I call it up ;P
 
Does seem like the DVD-writer caused some sort of conflict with the mobo.
I'm going to try with a new cable tomorrow, unplugged for the moment and the bug hasn't returned.
 
I pushed it as hard as I could, opening 20 media player windows playing divx at the same time, and still didn't do it so I suppose that's the problem.
 
Only god knows why the h*ll that even affected the input though...

See if there is an update for the firmware for the suspected dvd drive.

Rootkit, spyware or other malware. Or, corrupted Windows. Rootkits often interfere with minidrivers in Windows. The mouse messing up could be because you have a fancy mouse that uses non-MS builtin drivers or some other flaw in the malware, like a poorly written keystroke/mouse tracker. Possibly a PnP resource conflict, if the Super I/O and DVD drive are on the same DMA/IO/whatever then the DVD could be causing the interference.  
 
Format and reinstall.

I noticed you mentioned a thing with your dvd burner sorta fixes it. well do any of your games you have installed have star force or some sort of copy protection on them (or have you gone around some copy protection)?
 
I know that those will cause you a lot of headaches especially if you run some sort of cd emulation program, they don't play nice together.

Kind of ironic given the statement in your signature...  
 

 
IMO, even though it may be the DVD ROM, I would still run the gamut of; make sure your KB&M cords are plugged in or in the case of wireless check the batteries and a clean "line of sight" if an IR device, verify you've got the latest drivers especially the mobo chipset drivers, do a virus scan, defrag the drive, remove any spy/malware, ensure the latest firmware updates for ROMS & etc, and if none of that works - reinstall the OS.
 
Good luck!

Agree with Mr. fnord on this one. I have had the identical thing happen with my windows install after I ran something that was questionable. Only thing you could do is bring up task manager but then you couldnt' click on anything inside the list, which made debugging much more difficult.
 
For me I believe it was a io tap virus which trendmicro housecall did find, but not watching closely I had completly removed. I do know this infected/corrupt file was a windows\system32 file.
 
If you can, run trendmicro house call.. Pay attention to files it wants to fix/delete if from your windows install dir.. If anything from those directories, boot up your windows install CD and repair your install. If it finds nothing, think fresh install sadly.
 
Good luck,
 
Sypil

asd,
 
Does anyone other than you have access to your PC?
 
 
Please reference the Best Pranks thread...  Sounds like you may have actually been pranked..

 
Ok, this is caused by Windows Update and certain hardware drivers.  Go into safe mode, in Internet explorer on the menu click Tools/Internet Options/Advanced. Under "Browsing" UNcheck "Enable Third-Party Browser Exensions (Requires Restart)" click OK.  Restart.  
 
(Edit) missed a step, sorry.  While in Safe Mode make a .bat file shortcut to Regclean (as follows, in case the reboot after removing third-party extensions in Options still doesn't show a proper Desktop.) Double click shortcut then reboot again.. http://www.download.com/3000-2094-881470.html  
 
Now reboot normally.  Everything should be ok.

Well, progress so far is; appears to work on underclocked ram.
(been all over the mobo by now haven't I...)
 
They're 667mhz ddr2 on an AM2, I know, not supported.
So I downclocked to 533 and replugged the DVD, with an older cable type.
It does say CD-ROM cable on it, though.
 
So far hasn't happened again, although removing the DVD temporarily fixed it at max mem speed... :S
 
No star force, no root kit and no virii afaik..
 
It's definitely not an memory-problem smelling bug I've had before, but I guess it's possible, never built ECS before. Awful bios on that thing :S
 
And on a second note, not my computer but the guy I built it for has been rigorously slapped around to not download EXEs too often ;P
 
 
Going to try the winupdate thingy if anything resurfaces, but I still kinda don't like the mobo, cheapest piece o' ass I could get, just to fit his computer in a specific budget, with all the bling..
 
We almost had the cake and ate it I suppose.

 
 
 
Must've had them all now right? >_<

 
Lol that was the first thing I thought of.  A few symptoms point to no, he couldn't have been pranked, but nonetheless I thought the symptoms other than not being able to click on anything, could have been feigned or just fictional because he was distressed.

Did you forget the part about stopping explorer.exe as the finish to the prank?
 

Apparently, problem solved.
It was the mobo/ram not capable of running at it's max rated 667mhz, so it's running at 533mhz now instead.