can't start up JP !?
 

when i click on the shortcut i get an error with the text:

Error
Could not load game data!
Make sure you are running the application from the
directory it was installed to.
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Telltale Games\Jurassic Park The Game\GameData\JurassicPark100.exe"

how do i fix it?

That sounds like an incomplete installation, which can happen under certain circumstances.

Please make sure to follow these steps closely, depending on which operating system you run:
Windows Vista/7/8:
1. Right click JurassicPark100_Setup.zip and choose "Extract all".
2. Confirm by pressing the "Extract" Button. It should automatically open the extracted folder after extraction.
3. Start the installation by double clicking "JurassicPark100_Setup.exe".

Windows XP:
1. Right click JurassicPark100_Setup.zip and choose "Extract all".
2. In the new windows click the buttons [Next], [Next], then [Finish]. It should automatically open the extracted folder after extraction.
3. Start the installation by double clicking "JurassicPark100_Setup.exe".

If you have a third party archiving tool installed, the options after right clicking might look a bit different. Just make sure that you extract the entire .zip file and change into the new folder, before you start "JurassicPark100_Setup.exe"

I have windows xp but none of what you just described comes up when i right click on the jurassic park icon in my start menu, the options are - add to archive / add to juraasic park101.rar / compress and email etc...

You have to right click on the JurassicPark100_Setup.zip you downloaded here and follow the other instructions then.