Wow........now that's what I call a response.........Lots of things for me to try there anyhow...... Now this may or may not have cured the problem but, my six year old lad..........(I know, I know, they seem to be the root of all problems!!) had got one of his 'Dorling Kindersley Play and Learn' CD's in the drive. It's a classic app but not running or anything. I didn't really pay much attention to it, I have ejected the disc and my machine has been running for the past 40 minutes or so without a hiccup. Is it possible that the disc being in there could cause the problem? would the cube access the disc for no reason at all while the machine is up and running and cause it to hang? just a thought.......I'll keep you posted with how things go. Lacy