It had a funny turn to day (Thursday)...I got a pop up message when I tried a couple of times to call a friend..."Sorry we have a problem" Not sure how long for but not long I don't think.
thanks commoner - (there are two threads on this subject btw) I tried all day yesterday to do what skype suggested and delete the .xml file which was causing the the problem. It drove me insane as I couldn't even locate the bally thing despite following instructions to the letter. In desperation this morning I uninstalled skype then immediately reinstalled it and it appears to be working perfectly now.