Well if it is letting light in, why not try covering it with something. A dark sheet or a coat. You coud also try covering your photo with black card on the scanner. I haven't ever encountered this problem so I am not sure about the solution. Ok, microsoft PE isn't great. You say this is at school. Do you have a computer at home??? If so what software have you access to at home? If you can cure the scanning prob, then you could put your pics on a floppy to take then home. Colm...