Thank you all again. I seem to be a bit better today and have managed to get up for a few hours. not much energy but upright. nearly a week now but a bit more robust each day that passes. I will get there.
I did contact ed when the problem first occurred but cannot recall receiving a reply. not only was I told this was an unsafe site but I also needed to reboot every few minutes. as it is not my lappy it was easier and probably safer just to log out and stay that way.
browser was google and is now bing. I just don't want to cause problems to anyone by doing the wrong thing.
off to put a message on Mikey's thread. sadly missed.