The Dell HD was the primary drive that got the blue screen. Nothing I did got me into windows. I had all 3 hds taken out - using them externally.

I got a good result -90% of the mp3s back on the HP - with the PC Inspector. ( I was hoping that I might also have got them from the ME. their original source I moved them from but didn't.) Every time the program encountered an access error it froze. Closing it down through the taskmanager and then getting it up and running again took 15 minutes or more each time. Sometimes it went down twice in a minute. Sometimes it stayed up for ten minutes when it was saving files. It was worth it though. I didn't get back the Excel file, it didn't seem able to find it, I might have another look for it later. Great link, thanks :-)

I can't put back a drive in the Dell case because I don't know how! My computer person doesn't come back to the island for six weeks either.

What do you suggest I do with these 3 hds? I have two laptops. I really need one more machine anyway for my shop but I might get a laptop as there isn't much space. What do you think of online storage (the ones who will stream mp3s)?

Thanks for your help. Its really great not to have lost the music.

Petra