My laptop went to sleep while I was away and I did a manual shut down and
turned it back on. The log-in screen appeared, I typed in my password, and
when I was taken to the desktop, a black screen with my pointer appreared and
that's it. I restarted again...same result. I finally turned on in safe mode
and I still cannot see anything but the pointer.

Vista Home Premium (SP1)
Acer Aspire 5920G
Nvidia 8600M GT Turbo Cache

Any help is appreciated and I can provide other specs if needed.