It sounds like your hard drive data is corrupt or you have bad sectors you will need a boot disk to make repairs but your better off letting a professional do it.
If you want to try on your own: How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
In the command prompt you need to type
chkdsk /r
You may also have a virus or rootkit causing the problem and has patched a system file needed for windows for this you would need a bootable av scan and clean your machine.