my windows xp installation has shut down completely
F8 functionallity (reboot) also freezes - safe mode and
restore freeze completely

the blue screen message after rebooting
with windows xp cd is

setupdd.sys Address F84C0B18 base at F84A1000

The maxtor harddrive installation software apparently
operates normally - (at first it wouldn't instantiate the
installation and maintenance functions). This does not
appear to be a hard disk failure; as I got the proper
information the second time and it warned me about erasing
all the data from the harddrive (reformat).

The problem began with a usb driver problem for an
external hp moviewriter which has heretofor operated
perfectly [25 dvds made]. I ran disk defragmentor and
it also performed perfectly and then I ran check disk
for errors and rebooted.....this was the last time I saw
my windows xp installation. Thank you for your attention;
I have valuable information on this computer and would like
to recover it.