computer freezes in Recovery Console

[JJ]

I am running (or perhaps more appropriately "was") Windows XP
Professional. Last week I began having problems with my mouse and
keyboard, as they would be disabled at seemingly random times while
using my computer, though the computer seemed to continue running as
normal. I could not regain control of the keyboard or mouse without
unplugging the machine and restarting. I scanned the harddrive for
viruses and spyware to no avail. After 3-4 days of this behavior, I
turned the computer on and it went into a continuous loop of rebooting
Windows. I used the Dell diagnostics software that came installed on
the computer and it found nothing wrong. Next, I booted from my XP CD
and tried to run the recovery console. The welcome screen appears, and
I pushed "r" to load the console, but then the message "Examining 39206
MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi..." appears on the the bottom of
the screen. I let the computer go for about 5 hrs and when I came
back, the same message was still displayed. I have tried this 3 more
times and it always gets stuck at the same point. I also opened up the
case and checked for loose connections and the fan seems to be running
normally. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
JJ

 

[JJ]

I should add that I am unable to boot in safe mode or from the last
known working configuration, or whatever it says.

JJ