"We Apologize" Sartup eror

[Charlie C]

HP 512n, XP Home
When atempting to startup, I get a error:
We Apologize for the inconvenince, but Windows did not
start successfully (Really?)follwed by a paragraph on what
may have caused this then listing the startup options:
safe,LKGC, etc. The pc will only start in Safe mode about
25% of the atempts and freezes up at various points the
other times. I have only seen the "we apologize" message
on compaq or HP machines. My last experiance was a 21 day
old compaq 5000sx that came up with the same message,
after installing a new HD to no avail, HP installed a new
CPU. Any suggestions(besides staying away from XPH and HP)
appreciated

 

[John]

Back up your important files, scan your disk for errors,
and reinstall windows as a clean install?