"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...

snipped much

It had been running W7 fine - home premium, upgraded from Vista before my
eyes using proper upgrade discs (which I still have) when I bought it
about 5 years ago we think - but that's _probably_ irrelevant (so OT for
here) as it behaves identically with the hard disc absent.

So, could it be possible that the HD is dead?