Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your advice, I have reloaded all the software elements and can now compile and load programs onto the PIC, but not sure why the compiler did not work in the first place.

After reloading the software I still got the same error messages about the assembler file, so looked again at the compile and program options. Under assembler it said 'not defined', the find buttons were greyed out and the check box saying Use MPASM was unchecked, so I checked that and compiled a program without any problems. During compiliation some progress dialog boxes came up which I have never seen before so I am assuming that in previous instalations a different compiler was installed. Does that sound likely?

After four evenings of frustration the joy that a little flashing LED can bring is surprising!

Thanks to all who assist with these newsgroups, as a web programmer and not an electronics engineer I can only see half the picture and the information gleaned from these posts and the archives is invaluable.

Cheers,
Mark