Default launcher app hangs at boot up. Unable to do anything with phone (NexusOne) My NexusOne's builtin launcher is suddenly hanging at bootup. Since the main lock screen is hanging the screen touch is not working, soft buttons are not working -- I am just completely unable to do anything with the phone. When I tried calling the phone the call comes through, and I see the "Activity Launcher is not responding. Force Close?" popup, but when I force close it and the call ends, it goes back to the hanging lock screen and once again I am able to do nothing. 

Since it is stuck at lock screen there is literally nothing I can do to kill it or try other apps or settings or anything else. Even connecting USB cable didn't work since I need to enable USB storage from the notification bar and the hanging lock screen wont allow any touch response anywhere... 

What can I do or try? I guess hard reset is an option to try, but I want to keep it as a worst case option.
Have you tried booting in safe mode?

Nexus One Safe Mode

1) Turn off your Nexus.

2) Remove the battery if it cannot be done the normal way.

3) Press the power button to start your phone, and right when the logo appears, press and hold the trackball. 

You should also be able to hold down the touch sensitive Menu button at this point, if you prefer that.

4) Keep pressing until you see the lock screen, and you should now be in safe mode.

While in safe mode, see if the problem persists. Uninstall recently installed / updated apps that you feel may be causing a problem and clear app caches / data caches.

To exit Safe Mode, just reboot your device.