Thanks everyone, I found the other thread and managed to sort things out on Windows Live Mail.
Things are so much easier when you realise that clicking a button on the bottom left changes the headings in the task bar
. Now I have imported my addresses I will persevere with Livemail for a while.
As a matter of interest I decided to upgrade my hard disc at the same time as installing W7. Having gone down a few blind alleys I eventually loaded WXP on the new hard disc with the internet turned off, then did a clean install of 7 over the top. It was just as well I followed the advice and backed everything up. I hadn't twigged that a clean install actually cleans (formats) the disc in the process.
After a frustrating day I now have W7 on a 1.5GB hard disc all for £57 or thereabouts.