I took me ages to find the answer too. The problem seems to be caused by Microsoft ('hotfix') XP update KB 824141 (Although I have been unable to find it again, I recall the original answer said this was to do with hackers and mouse drivers! It also gave the command to be typed in at the 'run' prompt - which I don't remember, but it worked fine.) Everything will then work!! ... correct pointers and no crashing back to desktop. Anyway see the www.planetblackandwhite.com forum for corroboration. They suggest you just remove it under the 'add/remove software' option of control panel.
