I download my ebooks on a mac, which naturally doesn't have the software to open the files, but I can still strip the DRM on the same machine without them ever having been opened.
Books clearly behave differently! I've now got a non-DRM version, but it had to be opened and read first......which is what Surfergirl had to do as well. Ah well, there's something to look forward to next time (sigh....).
Thanks to all for the suggestions and practical help offered and given.
