Right Chaps –think I’ve got a complete solution now...
All my bad habits seem to work, even if they are –er- bad, but between you, you’ve just helped to complete the final part of the puzzle. BladeOfLight gave a hint that I had a data installation on the C: drive, except I’m sure I specified the D: drive. Anyway, the trouble-free install did indeed create an empty \data folder on the C: drive. I think the install fix may either have been something to do with the order in which I ‘reset’ things and moved them around between installs, or the run of chkdsk (which may have solved other non-Postgres issues!).
Anyway, the problem I had on the D: drive trying to move \data (the new install) out the way, then re-name and substitute \data_old (my original data) was because Windows would not let me fiddle with \data, as something was using it. The missing info was following BladeOfLight’s link here on the PostgreSQl Wiki which mentions about stopping the Postgres service, an area of Windows I had not needed to mess with before. By following these instructions, I was able to make my data substitution, and ‘Hey Presto’, both Navicat and pgAdmin allow me to see my original tables, which as BladeOfLight suggests, are not prodigious, but it is the only copy I have of some data (without having to wade through backups).
I note Alban’s thoughts about minor upgrades, but I should probably do regular pg_dumps.
Also, I put stuff on the D: drive as a separate partition on the same disk, which won’t protect me against all types of drive failures, but will protect me from Windows crashes –which are far more common- and any necessary OS re-install. I back up to an external drive, and use a dual-mirrored drive, though there is stuff about two disks being bought at the same time likely to die within a short time of one another. I’m intending a more sophisticated system in the future, and think I will then have plenty of space to set up a virtual Linux installation for stuff like Postgres, and the wonderful QGIS/Grass etc. (not so good on the evil Windows).
Also, also, apologies for the top-posting. Yes, I am using the abomination that is Outlook, but I will try to write shorter and clearer messages. I had found a while ago, that I really liked Sea Monkey as an alternative client, as I didn’t realise my Office license allowed me an extra copy on my laptop. However, I now link my PC to my phone, and the apps I have on there, only offer Outlook as a client that they can link to, so I’m quite annoyed that again I seem to be forced toward Microsoft. Ideally, I’d like to build my own system which may not be so hard, but perhaps another (very) rainy day..
Many thanks again for everyones’ help. Now more familiar with the friendly folks out there, I shall now purchase a proper Postgres book(s), and curl up with that for a bit.
Stephen