There is some discussion of this problem in May 2011, but it wasn't helpful to me. I'm trying to use emacs, running on a Windows machine to edit files on a remote Linux machine, using tramp. Using v. 23.1.1 from my laptop, which has Windows 7 professional 32 bit, everything is fine. Using 23.1.1 or other recent emacs versions from a virtual Windows 7 Enterprise (SP 1) 32 bit machine, I get the "recursive load" error. The command I'm trying to run is /plink:@<:/home/, which should get me into dired on the remote machine. It looks as though requiring tramp loads tramp.el, which in turn requires tramp-cmds, which in turn requires tramp. I'm guessing the fact that tramp-cmds is loaded by eval-after-load is supposed to make this work out right, but something goes wrong. I also get the problem on 23.4, and there isn't a later version for Windows. I've also tried lots of other variants, to no avail. I have no idea why Windows 7 Pro 32 doesn't have the problem, but Windows 7 Enterprise 32 does. I don't think this is a plink problem. I've also tried requiring 'tramp in my .emacs file, and manually loading tramp or tramp-cmds. On occasion, I've gotten it to work (even on Windows Enterprise) but then I can't reproduce it. I'd be happy with a work-around, even if I have to do some rigmarole when I start emacs. David Rosenthal COO, Principal 139 Billerica Rd. EB1 Chelmsford, MA 01824 Cell: 781 354-0390 www.IQ-Associates.com