They passed the second time with them both in I did actually do the test with the cover on as i thought it would be more accurate that way.

I still couldnt get access to the hard drive so i downloaded a few other things - ultimate boot cd recovery and had a look through that, i didnt really understand how to transfer the data accross as there was a lot of dos command type programmes, the one that did look simple enough wouldnt let me do it and told me to download the next version up which i had to pay for.

Another one i went for was PartedMagic which is something similar to Knoppix isnt it and it has been able to recognise the hard drive! :P So i am currently transfering all her photos etc wooohooooo

I know i havent fixed what was wrong initially but atleast i have got the data off the drive now (well its still churning away at the moment so i better get it all!)

I also downloaded puppy linux and burned it to the disc that i had knoppix on but it didnt even load! i thought you can use cd-rw for these things?

Anyway thanks for your help