Hey I just noticed, 30 posts and I'm a Veteran! Better go to bed then!

Ah, the steam may be a problem! WindowsXP does a far better job than W2K at recognising cameras, scanners and other removable media. You may be best off using JR's drag and drop method.

For dowloading from SD card reader to PC you can use the Windows XP Scanners and Camera wizard. I prefer to use the option in Rawshooter (I shoot all my photos in RAW), but I used to use Adobe Photoshop Elements which has a built in detector and transfer of picutres from cards to PC.

Oh - you are using a PC and windows, not *nix or a Mac?

George, you are a genius! My TV remote works for the immediate relase, hold down any button for 2 secs and the shutter triggers! Just have to find a combination to work the 3 secs delay.

Hi, I used this kit http://www.visibledust.com/econo_essentials.html, which I purchased through Speedgraphic. Take a bit of time and care, but it works fine. In order to avoid involuntary sneezes or coughs contaminating everything I wore a cheap dust mask that you can get from DIY shops. But I think that long-term, it is going to be best to avoid overcleaning, after all, the more times you do it, the more chance there is of something going wrong!

Super shot Daniel. I can't wait for the bugs to warm up around here!

Dunno how it vanished, it was there, honestly! I now officially hate my Homepage and must do something, maybe when I sober up after the Big Match at Twickenham tomorrow!

OK, since we all seem to be playing at macro photography I've put some of my efforts here http://www.ammonyte.plus.com/photos/index.html

They were taken with my *ist DS and Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 APO DG lens mounted on a tripod; cable release with mirror lock up. The lighting was a single 60 watt tungsten spot (OK two would have lost the shadows), White balance set to tungsten, shot in RAW and processed with Rawshooter Premium. They are mainly geological specimens (my other hobby) including some meteroite fragments.

Oh and the rest of my website is rubbish, I need to find time to work on it but playng with cameras is more fun

I would suggest the old standby of loading the latest firmware, which you should be able to download from the Pentax web site http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/support/download_digital.html

However, if it powered off while the firmware upgrade was taking place you might end up with a seriously dead camera. If you have a mains adapter it might be worth a try, otherwise I'd take it to my nearest Pentax service center.

I think SD cards will be around for some time. They are used in a wide range of devices from Cameras to PDA's mobile phones and GPS units. They are small, without being small enough to lose, and there is even a variety with a built-in USB connector. Just expect the capacities to get larger <8 GB !