thanks for the reply.
I'm thinking it has to do with having HL/CS 1.5 and then installing steam. Maybe it has taken over some .dll's. Maybe it's a XP issue.
I followed the beginners tut here. I'm just making some cubes with a player start and a light. Getting a feel for heights and such. Made one, worked, made another, overview problem. I found an old map I made and it won't load either, a different problem. CS works and I know my old map had worked at one time. Heck I just installed Kingpin after 5 years and the map I made for that works.... Dunno... Maybe I should go back with radiant..
thanks and have a good weekend!