XP safe mode does not work

I am trying to clean my colllege sons computer from a Virtumundo virus, and I know I will eventually get there thanks to this great forum. However, many procedures call for executing things from the safe mode. On his computer there is a problem with safe mode. It just shows up as a black screen with "safe mode" in the 4 corners. I can call up the task manager, but other then that this screen is dead wihout anything on it. I saw 1 or 2 references on this forum to a situation like it, but not indication of what the problem/solution is. Any ideas? Thanks,

Karst

Attachement with further details
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180
CPU Type Intel Celeron 4A, 2400 MHz (6 x 400)
Motherboard Name Dell Computer Corporation Inspiron 1100
Motherboard Chipset Intel Brookdale-G i845GL
System Memory 256 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (10/18/04)
Video Adapter Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller (64 MB)
3D Accelerator Intel Extreme Graphics