It says the trigger date is the 26th of each month.  My problem was yesterday, the 19th.

I've bookmarked this thread and will have my nephew have a look at it.

I don't have an XP Home disk as Dell just sent me a disk to use to reformat the computer.  My nephew will have a boot disk though.....so maybe that's all that is needed....hopefully. 

First time in my life I've ever hoped that my computer trouble is virus related,  LOL

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi