main menu won't load

[stingerhs]

the title pretty much describes my problem: kotor's main menu won't load. all i get is a black screen with the mouse cursor and menu music playing. no malak in a bouncer pose, no smoke on the bottom, etc.

 

steps i took to attempt to solve it myself:

• play with graphics settings
  
• remove all of my mods
  
• re-install kotor (and the 1.03 patch)
  
• run system diagnostics (no problems found)
  
• run anti-spyware checks
  
• run virus scanner (full disk scan)
  
• scan hard disk for errors
  
• defrag the hard disk
  
• made sure window's firewall is inactive

 

i'm going to try uninstalling a game (chronicles of riddick: efbb) that i put on recently and see if that helps.

 

system specs:

• athlon 2600 xp
  
• 512 Mb RAM
  
• nvidia geforce fx 5600 (256 Mb)
  
• integrated sound
  
• 120 Gb hard disk (w/ 85 Gb free)

software:

• directX 9.0c
  
• latest nvidia drivers

 

thanks for the help.