can't use browser beyond subnet

Good point.

I found that in the Control Panel>Network and Dialup Connections>Local Area Connections>Properties>TCP-IP>Properties (breath) the Use the following DNS server adresses section was empty.

I entered the DNS addresses that were in the other computer and hey presto - it worked.

This is a very useful forum - thanks

Yes, that would be a first port of call. I should really have mentioned it from the outset - to look at the TCP/IP settings and see that they match.

Sometimes, I think that the forums are as much about some people sharpening their troubleshooting techniques as it is about helping people or being helped. I come here not to really ask questions but to improve on the quality of the answers I give. I think many others post here for those reasons as well.