as is, it seems, always the way, i went back to the right-click menu on the 
mounted usb stick and found deep inside a box i could uncheck which when 
unchecked undoes automount. whereupon a simple command line trick:

sudo dd bs=4M if=q4os-2.4-i686pae.r2.iso of=/dev/sde

solved the problem.

so off we go into the exciting world of Q4OS. pray for me.
-- 
dep

The shortest distance between you and playing great acoustic guitar:
the great new instructional DVDs from Marjorie Thompson, 
available at www.MarjorieThompson.com