Thanks to all who replied. The aggravating thing is that this happened just as I was returning from vacation. And of course, I neglected to back-up my HD prior to leaving for vacation. All I need is the data from that 1 week just before I left... Darn! And of course, that data is important data, too. Dear old Murphy and his law and all. In a perfect world I would've backed-up my HD prior to leaving. In a perfect world, there would be MacOSX for sale at the local computer store. But we 'aint. We make do the best we can. And people, good people, help make our muddling thru a better experience. A deep heartfelt thank you for those of you who chose to be good people.