Hey all, thanks for all the suggestions. Particularly fsck! (I'd completely forgotten about that one). I didn't end up using it, because I reformatted, and reinstalled. The HD test seems ok now.. Although something interesting - World book still doesn't work. I think I must have a problem in ~/Library because I copied that back, and it's busted... bummer.. Also, re batteries: > I was always careful > to fully charge and fully discharge it.) This is not beneficial to modern (i.e LiIon) batteries. In fact, it is actually bad for them. It's best to keep them as charged as possible, as much as possible. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion for more info... Again, cheers all! -Angus