I don't know the exact problem but check Event Viewer for clues, try booting into
safe mode to see if you have a startup program/service causing a conflict, run a full
virus scan with definitions updated as of today, a full parasite scan using Adware,
and try running System File Checker as in sfc /scannow which will require access to
the install cdrom and may cause problems with replacing hotfix files if you are not
using SP4 however. If all that fails, try to reset security settings back to default
defined levels as described in KB link below. An in place upgrade of Windows 2000 may
be a final solution before reinstall which would require you first reinstall service
pack and then all critical updates when done. -- Steve