[Appocomaster]

ok, I've got as far as downloading knoppix. It seems fine and very quiet.
As soon as I find my screwdriver / borrow someone elses I can take the laptop apart - there seem to be lots of screws on the bottom.
I'm just going to download memtest86 and start that off.

Thanks :up:

ha. while posting this, the laptop fan came on and the laptop locked up. [/irony].
I'll get that memtest thing