Thanks for the replies - I think I have the Virgin software - certinaly lots of Virgin logos everywhere, thoug no bovious way of getting rid of crap channels.
Unplugging the box doesn't solve anything in terms of the problems with Virgin Central, so will call customer services. Pressing red on most channels seems to casue problems.
seems poor that no news multiscreens are available - thay've had years to sort things like that out. Oh well, at least it's free.