yes I'm in root. I have been reading several threads on Debian forums and it seems to be a common problem with Synaptic not properly downloading the package. The recommend fix is to go into the line and delete the word on the line( in this case #padding). Problem is I get a 'permission denied'. I just noticed I can only access ROXTERM and not x-terminal. If worse comes to worse how do I remove Debian and re-install. My fear is that the corrupted download file will mess up new Debian install. Any thoughts, ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dan edit: uninstalled debian and reinstalled.