My computer boots to the login screen but fails to reach the Desktop
after the user name and password are entered. I have several users
setup - all fail to reach Desktop.  (i have recently set up multiple
users and was experiencing some anomalies, I also recently upgraded to
10.2.3, and downloaded a Demo of PocketMac Pro - which didn't work and
I couldn't delete - somehow I suspect that it has caused a software
conflict).

I've done a safe boot, run disk utility and tried "fsck".  Everything
checks OK.

I am trying to avoid reinstalling Jaguar but was planning on this as my next
step.

Any suggestions?

Hello Davidkroes,

Based on your description, your idea of reinstalling Jaguar is most
likely the best solution. A few sites including:
  MacOSX Tips (http://www.miniapples.org/Articles/macosxtips.html)

  Princeton University OSX FAQ
(http://helpdesk.princeton.edu/kb/display.plx?ID=9182)

basically suggest that solution. It is also likely faster than a real
diagnosis session via Google. Note that your preferences *will* be
kept if you chose to not erase the destination disk.

It *may* be possible to diagnose the current situation (using the safe
boot - you have a command line interface) by reviewing the log files
in
  /var/log
I generally use "less" (or "more" if less is not available) to page
through these files so
  less /var/log/system.log
would page through the last system log file. There may be hints of
what the problem is in that file but I don't know how to get
individual files or applications off of the Jaguar CD.

Good luck.
  --Maniac