picture maximised on startup explorer running in back ground no start menu cannot get in at all ctrl alt del says not responding anyone help

Can you get into Safe Mode?

have tried safe mode still no joy, windows is running in the background, task manager is telling me cannot quit programmmes, egg timer is permanantly with cursor.

Erm... little more information

OS i assume is Windows Millenium.
What window is running in the background ?
What exactly does taskmanager tell you ?

we have a picture that has been maximized on the screen, hiding everything cannot get to the start menu, have tried starting in safe mode, but nothing happens, the task manager says explorer is running, and msn messenger is running, press end task and nothing happens, try to shut down and it says cannot quit, total newcomers to computers so dont know what we are doing

Did this just happen? Was everything ok before?

Did you try from Safe Mode Option screen: "Choose Last Known Good Configuration"?