Andrei, I have only just seen your suggestions for lost db. and obk. I used to be notified on email when replies came in -this doesn't happen these days.
i tried your suggestion several times but immediately it came up with not found.
when i open comm. prompt i get "Documents & settings\ Brian Astell"...should i try to get rid of these to get complete search on C drive? If so, how, please? i have painstakingly replaced 3,000 items using scan -other options do not work at present -I have at least 4,000 to go. Locating original db. would be a miracle