[rbruce1314]

Thanks again for all the ideas - but it seems we are not much forrarder at the moment.

So: three questions, the answers to which will decide if I give up....

1. Why, with one PC, one hard drive, one file location, does 0.7.4 work perfectly yet 0.8.6 has these problems?
   
2. Could it possibly be anything to do with the fact that I've ended up with several copies of Microsoft C++ due to all the recent reinstallations?
   
3. and, failing all that, when is Sigil 0.9 due to be released??!!??!!

Thanks folks - quite a range of ideas and possibilities (but not a whole load to tinker with...... ).