x213a - thanks, I've had a look under the Tag No for this trusty dell and I see the BIOS update is dated 10/4/06 and I seem to remember installing it some time ago. How could I check?
I'm reluctant to install the others as I am very much a 'user' and don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to 'A' level computing.
sroberts - thanks for the info. Maybe 'wait and see' is the best policy.
Thanks all
mcdhu