It seems that I possibly just needed to do a bit more reading on the forum and have come across what seems to be a possible fix ,
I have followed the steps highlighted by Kranklys74 on the following thread :
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=201516
and it may have just sorted my problem out (fingers crossed) any advice would still be appreciated
I have sh3 installed to c:/program files x86/ steam/ steamapps/common/sh3
and shcommander is installed to c:/program files x86/ shcommander
can i just confirm that they are in right place , i know its best to install sh3 outside of program files but steam wont let me.
Cheers once again I may be able to sail once more in to the depths