Thanks John. The motherboard (ABIT KT7 - A VIA Apollo KT133 board) is probably about 2 years old now and is just std USB. The cable would reach from the socket on the motherboard to the front as well as the back but I'll take your advice and not cut a hole. The 2 existing ports at the back are taken by printer and scanner. I'll just mount the thing where it's intended to fit, in the place of a PCI card slot (it's not a card itself), and use a cable to come round to the front in line with your "duct tape" idea. It's probably a lot safer and and I don't think £7 (exchange £ for $ will probably be a reasonable estimate for UK cost) will hurt me too much.

Jon