Riddick,
Thanks for your console suggestion - I am embarrassed that I had forgotten such a basic diagnostic - since Linux is soo useable as a desktop nowadays :-)
courtrrb,
from the console a stale group perm - as a result of upgrades lingered.
I chmod 'd on all boxes and now I don't experience problems.
As an aside, if you guys are still following this thread, can your browser survive this URL?
http://www.computershare.com.au
It's a reputable stockmarket site - no nastys!
Cheers
HoOLi