Strangely now it is all back, and i installed all the VFR scenery and UK2000 scenery manually rather than using the install routines, FS9 now loads in about 1 minute. This is a record not seen since ince FS4 days! Dunno what to make of it - it all works perfectly - I went for a test flight today. The only difference I can think of is that I have not yet installed the VFR mesh which I have alwqays used with the VFR scenery.