dataroot is not configured properly error

Mahara, XAMPP, and database all installed on my Windows 7 laptop, without issue.

Moodle 2.5 Installation broke at the database installation point with an error message - couldn't create database.

I checked the config file and it transpired that no file had been created from the config distribution.

I created a config file with the following data:

$CFG->dbtype = 'mysql5';
$CFG->dblibrary = 'native';
$CFG->dbhost = 'localhost';
$CFG->dbname = 'moodle';
$CFG->dbuser = 'admin';
$CFG->dbpass = '';
$cfg->wwwroot = 'localhost/moodle/htdocs/';
$cfg->dataroot = 'c:\\xampp\\htdocs\\moodle';

I am now getting this error, can anyone shed any light on this for me?

Warning: Creating default object from empty value in C:\xampp\htdocs\moodle\config.php on line 57
Fatal error: $CFG->dataroot is not configured properly, directory does not exist or is not accessible! Exiting.

Thanks in advance