Ok so basically it *seems* that the 30 gig hd i bought for ze laptop has expired. I'm going to try another approach later today to see if I can bring it back from the dead. Meanwhile I thanked God that I kept my old 10 gig hd that came with ze laptop and it was a matter of installing it, partition it so I can have both Windows XP and Knoppix installed. Yes, space is very tight and precious on this one, I'm afraid, but it does the job while I deal and scheme to get another hd in case I cannot resurrect the 30 gig one. At least I had a replacement handy. Woot!