White screen on laptop startup? I NEED HELP PLEASE!

[emma_llew]

I have a Dell inspiron 1525 which was working fine earlier, but now when I turn it on, it only shows a white screen and the cursor, which I can move.
Then, the tab up the top of the screen comes on (not sure what the technical name for it is) I think it's a 'dock'? It has links to email and internet etc on it.
So, that's how I'm on the internet now, by clicking on the icon on my dock... other than that though, NOTHING is on my screen... when I minimize the internet window, it is white except for the dock.
Can someone please tell me what's happened? And how can I ammend it?
Thanks very much for any help.

[thelewisgang]

not sure if this will help but thought I'd try. A few weeks back my Siemens laptop went silly & I couldn't close it down at all & everything froze & after leaving it for over an hour in this state. I removed the battery & then reconnected it. Hey presto everything came back working. worth a try?