Ok, I'm teaching Hammer and portal mapping to myself, using all the great links above but I'm faced with one problem I can't overcome:

To use the portal textures, I need to load the editor selecting Orange Box as engine version and Portal as game, but with those settings the game won't load to test what I've done.

If I exit, and change the engine to HL1: Ep2, and change the game to HL:2 I can run the maps I've bade but the textures are all missing.

I know there is some simple step I'm not seeing, but any help is appreciated.

Found some on disk fragmentation of the portal game files, assuming now that's been causing it.

Should I completely whipe out and reinstall all source programs? I've reinstalled source sdk, base and orange box base already.

I have reinstalled these files from a backup after a system whipe and I've read that can cause problems

Solved my own problems, and next time I post I promise it will relate to a portal map. You'll be seeing a map from me soon, might not be as flashy as some others but I hope someday people will enjoy my releases. Great community, sorry for clogging things up.

Thread can be trimmed.

Awesomus, you post the kindest, self-solving spam threads I've ever seen.

Welcome to TWP.