Angus, You can also try to type the following, EXACTLY as shown below: :syn off [Enter] :ru off [Enter] And see if it helps. The reason you are getting tons of numbers is that vim uses tty colors to make some files more "readable". This is what the first command (:syn off) is all about. Also, if you turn off the ruler, you may get a different look on the screen, as it will try to remove the information ruler at the bottom. Hope this helps! -- Gil Andre ___ Technical writer ___ Arkeia Corporation email: gandre@arkeia.com | web: http://www.arkeia.com