Yes it was, Richard. I couldn't interrupt the boot sequence to boot from the CD which is why I decided to try the support line. My description of the problem led her to believe that a repair wouldn't work, and she didn't like the idea of a reinstall over the top, so I did a full clean install. Not a major problem since it's basically a network computer and all files are kept on the host.
All up and running fine now. thanks for your suggestions as always.
Binos