mouse quits working, bottom tool bar unmounts, mint 13 freez

[28Larry]

HP computer,XP with service pack 1, 6300 with 2 mb ram. Installed Mint 13 cinnamon in dual boot with XP. Had to try install 3 times as mouse would freeze,bottom tool bar would dissapear, and Mint would freeze. After successful install, when mint is booted mouse works for a short time then everything freezes. Is the problem the computer (bios?) bad mouse or is this an issue with Mint cinnamon ?