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hi,switched comp on and it says"Windows didnt start properly" and gives me various options to try    Safe Mode,safe mode with  networking,safe mode with prompts,Last known good configuration and start windows normally,but none of them help.Any ideas please

I would go through them in this order:
Normal
if that doesn't work, last known good configuration,
if that doesn't work, safe mode, look at the hardware for possible problems. Possible driver issues...

Then I'd fart about for a while, get cross & take it to a small pc repair guy, probably in bits.

Praps I've misunderstood and you've tried them all already & still can't get it to boot up?

restart?

I'd go for safe mode, then shut down and restart.

have tried them all and still nothing

Oh Dear Grotbag - not good at all.
Any solutions at this point will be technical and if you are not confident in your IT skils then I'd leave it to someone you trust technically.  Personally I'd take the Hard drive out and check it for errors and then do some of ..
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6031733.html

Do you fancy any of that???

Is it an old PC and do you have lots of stuff on it like pics and music? It may be best in the long run to get someone to take your data off and reinstall XP  - any decent PC repair outlets near you??

my Dad's 'pooter (dell) did this last week, solution? new hard-drive, and complete re-install of everything. (luckily 'the I.T. Chap' in his village retrieved all his data)
I've got to visit dad and show him how to back-up has data so he won't panic next time it happens. ;)

when i do press on one of the options ie "safe mode " a list of numbers etc come  up then the windows logo for a second then back to the problem window ,,

It sounds like a Windows problem, but do NOT try to reinstall Windows. It formats your hard drive before installing and you would definitely lose everything. When our old machine went a over t I was advised to buy an ICY box, removed the hard drive from the old machine and fit it into the ICY box (Must be easy I did it unaided.) You then either fit a new hard drive in the computer,re install Windows etc and use the new machine to 'lift the Data from the old drive. There is a Free recovery program from GNU which worked for me. I got everything I wanted from the damaged drive except the stuff which was on the physically damaged sections obviously. We now use the drive as a back up for this machine.

Quote from: grotbag on January 27, 2010, 15:06:55
when i do press on one of the options ie "safe mode " a list of numbers etc come  up then the windows logo for a second then back to the problem window ,,

That's what happens Grotbag - unfortunately normal behaviour

Loading into Safe Mode is basically loading into Windows, without any additional programs running alongside it - great for diagnosing problems. If, however, you are unable to access Safe Mode, a problem may lie with your operating system (Windows). Your original post did not state the manufacturer of your computer but usually you will get a recovery disk with your computer (or you will be prompted to create this when you first turn the computer on when it was brand new). What I would suggest is doing a recovery, this will mean you will lose all your data.

If you have anything on the computer, you will need to take your computer to a computer specialist who will need to access the hard drive through an alternative method, and back up all your important data. Once the data has been backed up, I would recommend doing a recovery. If you can detail what make your computer is, I can try and tell you how to do this without the recovery disk as there is a "partition" on your hard drive which contains the recovery information.

I have seen this problem quite alot through my time in technical support and recovery is pretty much guaranteed to solve your problem.

thanx for all the help, but took comp to shop it was the hard drive cost me £50.