Computer Frozen

[JJB2904]

The family's ancient PC using Windows XP (I think) switches on and can log into desktop with all usual icons but from there we can get no further. The mouse is working and have also tried another with same result. Is there an easy fix for this to access files? Most have been saved to external drive - just not the most recent of the last week or so. The C drive is well filled but there is capacity on the D drive. I can get to the Boot menu, but am no technophobe so dare not go any further without having some idea of what I am doing. Is the problem terminal or is there some hope of retrieval? Any help gratefully received.

[Buenchico]

If the mouse plugs into a USB port (rather than a PS/2 one), try a different port. If the mouse uses a PS/2 port, try a USB model instead.

If that gets you nowhere, try booting into Windows Safe Mode. (Keep tapping F8 during the computer's boot process). If you can get into Safe Mode, simply restarting the PC from there is sometimes all that's needed. If you can get into Safe Mode but restarting doesn't fix the problem, get back into Safe Mode and run System Restore. (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore).

If you're still stuck then it's probably time for the computer to go to the great computer store in the sky (a.k.a. your local recycling facility) but the data on the hard drive isn't lost. You'd need to remove the drive, install it an an external caddy (cheap from Amazon), plug it into the USB port of another computer and 'take ownership' of the drive (which involves nothing more than a few clicks of a mouse). You'd then be able to access the contents of the drive in the same way as you could from any other external drive.

If you need instructions for doing that, just ask. (However, given that you'd have to buy an external caddy, it might not cost much more to get a computer technician to do the job for you).

If you need a replacement for the ancient PC (where you obviously only need a computer for basic tasks, rather than for high-end gaming or video-processing), this is what I'd go for:
https://www.accomputerwarehouse.com/product-page/esprimo-e5720-3gb-ram-160gb-hd-pentium-e2180-dual-core-windows-10-pro
(I've used that company lots of times, both for myself and when buying on behalf of others. Their products and customer service are both excellent).

[Old_Geezer]

Filling the system (C:) drive is a bad idea. Slows the PC to a crawl. Move what you can to D:

Your description is vague. Do you mean that you click on a shortcut, wait & wait, but nothing seems to happen ?

[JJB2904]

Thank you Buenchio and Old_Geezer. I was able to open in safe mode and go to a restore point and for now, the computer is back in working order. We're looking to replace soon but in the meantime have backed up recent files to external drive and are moving some to the D drive. Thank you both for your helpful suggestions.