Boot up in SAFE mode, tap F8 key gently and repetively until you see a menu come up (have to do this right after it boots up.)

When you see the menu come up, use the arrow keys to choose SAFE MODE and then it will load up Windows in the SAFE mode.

See if Xara Xtreme loads up then in SAFE mode. SAFE mode screen looks funny, but it will still work like Windows.

If it does, somewhere along the line, on of your startup routines has become corrupted and running things afoul.