Thanks for your reply Bob - much appreciated.

Your answer is most encouraging - I've been at sixes and sevens for a while now over this....
Various different *experts* have been giving me all these various *should dos and shouldn't dos*....
It's doing my head in!

I hasten to add - I refer not to all the helpful peeps on here
You all obviously know what you're talking about - and you've been worth your weight in gold to me in the past....

Who I'm talking about is the *I proclaim to know everything pc related - but in reality I don't actually know what the hell I'm talking about* guys they send when you've got an extended warranty. Oh come on - you've gotta laugh!
You've all been helpful to me in your own different ways, believe me.

I still haven't quite made up my mind as to whether I'll upgrade my 160GB drive to a 500GB or 1TB - or whether I'll keep things as they are and just use a couple of 250/500GB external drives....

Whatever I end up doing - all suggestions, advice and info will be a big part of my final decision....

Thanks all!