Situation:
Able to move the mouse but the cursor is in the hourglass mode, the machine appears to have frozen, bombed, hung.
Cause:
When this issue occurs, it is one of three corrupted file types:
Binary files (*.bin)
These files contain Norton Desktop's configuration settings and passwords.
Data files (*.dat)
These files contain various parameters that are passed to Norton Desktop icons, windows, and includes the layout of windows on the screen.
QAG files (*.qag)
These files are the files that Norton Desktop uses to contain subgroups and files in an iconized format.
Note: Usually this issue is due to a corrupted group (*.qag) file.
The Solution:
Get to a DOS prompt (usually a cold boot (reset or power off) is necessary).
Rename the files with the above listed extenders to some obscure letter combination (for example, change *.qag to *.q27) because you may need them later. These files are in the main directories for Norton Desktop for Windows and Windows (usually NDW and Windows).
Load Windows with NDW (WIN at the DOS prompt) and then choose File Exit OK.
First, try copying the Quick Access group (QAGmain.xxx) back to QAGMAIN.qag, load Windows, and then try to exit back to DOS. If you are successful, repeat the process with the other groups until you find the defective group, and then you will have to replace it or rebuild it from Program Manager groups. If you are not successful, then at least your Quick Access group is defective.
If your Quick Access group is defective, run Windows, create a new group, and write down the file name of the group. Move all other groups and icons into this group. Reboot the system, delete the *.bin and *.dat files, and run Windows. At this point, your Quick Access group is working fine. Try to exit Windows, if it is successful, the defective group is fixed, if it is not, repeat the above process until the defective group is fixed. The groups most likely to be corrupted are Quick Access, Startup, and any groups opened during the current session before Windows is exited.