The lens cover on my canon powershot camera won't open when i turn it on.?

it's a powershot A420. when i turn it on i get an error message that says "lens error, restart camera" and then it shuts off.any help would be greatly appreciated.

I know this is pretty obvious, but have you checked the batteries? My husband had a camera that used not only regular AA batteries, but used flat watch type batteries also. I am wondering if your camera is the same. Other than that, the only thing that I can think of is that the lens cover has gotten bent in some way and can't open properly.

Can there be sand or dust in the lens or lens cover?
If so, have it cleaned.
I have a digital ixus that has a cover that sometimes gets stuck halfway open, and it does that since I used it in sandy conditions.

needs repaired

The best thing you can do, is keep trying over and over..
I had that happen once and after 10 tries it finally opened.
Don't give up.....

If that don't work.. send it to the company for repairs if it's still
under warranty.. if not you can replace it for around $115
with the newer model the Canon A460