[jo101010]

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everything now ok - the problems were due mainly to the incorrect drivers. Win 7 could not find the drivers automatically, nor even when I pointed win 7 to the correct directory. I'd already tried the latest drivers from the FTDI site, but then found some different drivers that a uk (ross tech re-seller) company was offering (here: http://www.gendan.co.uk/download/gendandriver.exe) - these worked and installed perfectly and enabled my system to run. (That is, once I'd got over the weird virtual addressing that win 7 uses for its com ports). On the subject of loss of licence details, I found that if I wasn't connected to the internet then I didnt lose the licence, if I was connected then the licence was lost from that point! In short VAG COM does run under win 7 - although I havent tried all the functions yet! Thanks to all that helped on this journey!!