Hi again, Thanks for your tips and offers of help, as i live near King's Lynn it is too far to go to one of your kit meetings (Didn't you use to hold meetings in King's Lynn once?) I am in the proccess of getting quotes on having a new drive fitted as i am not too technical minded and may have attempted to change the drive on a desktop unit but not a laptop. This one is one of those you have to take apart unlike my wifes Toshiba which has a little removable cover. Got to get this sorted as i need a Linux Fix soon ;-) Barry

Hi Would you believe it finally got Ubuntu Linux working on an old laptop, got a wireless card and got that working. then the other day computer froze while watching video on BBC site.Could not get it to shut down, so switched off