Thanks Saab. I've set a BIOS password and also a fairly strong account password.
All I'm trying to protect against Gertrude is someone getting easy access to the laptop and getting to read some of the stored e-mail I have on there.
There's nothing too valuable or important on there and the computer itself is only a low budget model so I don't even think it would be worth banyone trying to break it up for spares.
It was only access by opportunists that I am trying to avoid. (hotel staff for example).
I always keep my antivirus and spyware progs up to date and try not to view any "dodgy" or suspect sites when I'm travelling.