Thanks for the suggestion David, but I contacted dell again and they informed me that there was a mirrior image of the "shipped" state of the laptop hidden on the hard drive and so I retored it to that state. It means I am reloading some programs and data, but at least everything is working now as it should. I leave for Africa pretty soon and so needed to have this thing reliable quickly and loaded with my presentation material. Be well and stay well. Much appreciation, Jim
