SamJK

Thanks RandyL I tried saving to a 97 doc, but then wasn't able to enter text. I've followed Microsoft instructions for using a watermark in 97, but this is not allowing me to enter text exactly where I want it to be without a lot of fiddling. Then I got a blank page when printing! I'll persevere with this for now, but also take a look at Open Office. Thanks for your comments. Regards SamJK

Frank, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately my MS Word is 97 and I haven't been able to find any options that will insert a watermark as you have described. I have been able to follow your instructions on a PC with MS Word 2010, but as expected when opened with my Word 97 the formatting is lost. I'm wondering if the most recent Open Office would suffice - would you know anything about that? Unless of course you could suggest anything else? Many thanks for your help SamJK

I use a form comprising of fields for entering name, date of birth etc. The rest of the form is simply lined - all information is currently handwritten. I'd like to be able to scan and input the information by keyboard and print. I've tried using Paint, but selecting boxes accurately on every line is laborious and the whole thing looked a bit messy. I'd like to be able to position the cursor and type. I don't have Microsoft Office Document Imaging, but I'm not even sure that's the sort of software I need. Can anyone advise me please what software will do the job I want to do? Many thanks SamJK

Goku - thanks for that, I'm running through the disinfection procedure now. Tootech - thanks, that's good advice, I'll be doing that ASAP. I really hope I don't have to bother you again. Helen K

Tootech I'm grateful for your info re the built in Recovery option. You're right - system restore only resulted in a blue screen and the original error. However, I went on to perform a partial recovery which seems to have worked fine up to now. All original data files have been saved and I've copied the important ones onto an external drive - something son should have done in the first place. I'm now going to browse the rest of the site for advice about protecting this laptop and won't be letting him have it back until that protection is installed, updated and running. Many thanks once again. Helen K

Tootech Thanks for that - I have the Recovery Program screen open now. The only option is to try XP System Restore first - can you confirm that this will only be trying to sort the Windows mess out and other files on the hard drive will be left as they were? Thanks HelenK

Well it's likely there was a disc supplied originally and son didn't deem it important enough to look after it. I'll contact Packard Bell for a replacement. Many thanks HelenK

Thanks for the welcome. That's right - I can't boot up at all. I did try from the last known good configuration and the following file is missing or corrupt. WindowsRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe HelenK

On behalf of my son, but I have the laptop here with me. Packard Bell Laptop Easynote GN45 WinXP Service Pack 3 (Media Center Edition) Ran an outdated Spybot - detected Errorsmart, AdRevolver, Adviva, Clickbank, Hitbox, Mediaplex amongst many others. There was also an error during the check - VirtuMonde.windowsupd(1) failed to get. Ran an outdated AdAware - Files required for Windows to run properly have been replaced by unrecognised versions. Need original versions. Insert SP3 CD now. No CD supplied with laptop and don't have a rescue disc. On restarting Windows loads to the desktop, but there are no icons displayed. In safemode everything is displayed correctly. Son accepts the harddrive may ultimately need wiping if the software mess can't be solved, but needs files saved from there first (he has backed nothing up). The problem is that the USB pendrive is not recognised in My Computer in safemode, so I'm unable to transfer any files. Similarly I can get the most recent drivers from the Packard Bell site onto a pendrive, but then won't be able to transfer them to the laptop. That was yesterday evening. Today I can't access safemode - this is the message. STOP: c000021a (Fatal System Error) Logon process system process terminated .... status of 0xc0000005 The system has been shut down. Is this the end of the road? I'd be grateful for any advice. Helen K