please help me..windows xp wont start

sam1970

this morning i turned my pc on (xp home) and i got black screen stating (we apologise for the inconvenience..but windows did not start successfully. a recent hardware or software change might have caused this problem.....then it gives me the choice between 5 options including start windows normally, last known configuration, safe mode..etc. i tried all options but no joy as it goes back to the black screen.....can any one help please...i am worried to death about losing all my data on this pc as the last time i backed it up was more than 2 months ago and i added alot of stuff since then...helllllppppp:o

Browntoa

do you have an XP cd.. ??

you really need one of those to do some diagnostics, any XP Cd will do if you can borrow one

then do this

http://www.schrockinnovations.com/chkdsk.php

Shazmar_2

If you don't have an XP cd get a friend to download you a copy of a Ubuntu live cd and then print off a copy of the instructions found here :-

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

this should at least enable you to retrieve your data and save it to a USB stick or external hard disk etc.