Thanks again for your kindnesses.
I have removed all ribbons and replaced them with round cables. The main problem with those is that they to tend to get rough handling simply by nature of their manufacture. Still it has worked and the CMOS is seeing the drive and I am back with a XP OS on my 'C' drive.
The SATA drive is also OK and looks as though it is going to be a winner - we shall see. As BOAC has said, and we talk most days, he thinks I should have dual boot and I am working towards that.
It is all very frustrating but I did discover a pin on the drive where my much needed data sits that there was a sunken pin - I have now pulled that back to sit level with all the rest.
The weekend is going to be interesting I fancy.