Sorry to all, must have been my iPod!
question was,
Dashboard just stopped finding the sever, with the usual connection error, for no apparent reason. It was working fine up to a few days ago. All that has changed is that I have activated a stand alone student license, I am going to an exhibition to demonstrate, nothing else not even the machines have changed. Is it the student version ( if so I feel v silly) or has anyone any other ideas? I have tried all the usual server, shared variable tricks and nothing seems to work.