Big thankyou to all those that helped regarding a clean install of windows xp. I have since done this with my original cd and haven't used the one Microsoft sent me. I may use this later if I have problems again.
OK I did the installation but now when I shut down I only get three options 'stand by' 'shut down' and 'restart.' I no longer get the option of 'hibernate' when I hold the shift key down prior to turning the computer off.
I installed SP2 as well just after the install so I am wondering if this is solely an SP2 issue.
Can anyone help please?