Hi,

You will be able to try to repair with your upgrade CD.

This could be caused by a few things so we need some more information.

Please post the exact error message.

Hi, I really appreciate your assitance.

the message follows:

we apologize for the inconvenience  but windows did not start succesfully.  a recent hardware or software change might have caused this.  if ur computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last known good configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

if a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or because the power or rest button was pressed or if u aren't sure what caused the problem, choose start windows normally.

safe mode

safe mode with networking

safe mode with command prompt

last known good configuration (your recent settings that worked)

Start windows normally

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to ur choice.

Seconds until Windows starts: 30

It doesnt matter what selection I make..the seconds tick down from 30, I get the dell screen with the logo, then the win xp home edition page for a few seconds, then it starts again at the black screen with the above message.  It's a continous loop.  F2 freezes the screen(that's how i could reproduce the message, otherwise the seconds count down from 30)

Many thanks