latest dev version cannot find images & change of CSS class with 'Insert HTML' option

I have been using the dev snapshot (dated ??-08-2007) of Image Assist 5.x-1.x-dev with Drupal 5.2 together with use of taxonomies to tag the images. I do not use WYSIWIG for the text areas.That has been working fine - until I upgraded to the latest development snapshot of Image Assist dated 2007-10-01. I did not change any settings. On going to the Image Assist window, all the thumbnails were at first empty and then slowly collapsed to just the filename. At first I thought it might have something to do with the warning that using taxonomies would mean the thumbnails would not appear until a category was chosen - or that the files could now not be found.

In addition, images I had already placed in nodes began to float left rather than stay where they had been aligned.

I did get Image Assist to insert HTML (which I usually use) for one of these file-names and comparing the new insert code with the old. I noticed two things:
1. the changed class names mentioned in the release notes
2. the img src path was wrong. My image files are outside the public browser directory and the path now given for them took the form

/drupal root//home/path/to/images/example.png

- note the double // as well as the inappropriate use of the Drupal root directory in this instance.

As to 1. I have a legacy problem. I did not realise the significance of choosing HTML insert mode and how that would leave me high and dry should there be a change of classes in later development of Image Assist. I can solve it by adding the old image assist classes to my CSS. Would that cause problems in future - or would it be better to change the image code in the nodes (rather a lot of them :/ )?

As to 2 I am not clear where Image Assist is now picking up its path settings or looking for the images, especially as the previous version worked. I haven't changed any settings - so why does it appear that Image-Assist can no longer find my images and why is it using the /drupal root/ directory when the images are outside the public area?

In troubleshooting this I looked at the database (the Drupal tables have a prefix as I cannot create databases on my web host) and notice that img_assist_map is empty - checking my database backup it was also empty when using the previous version of Image Assist. I see there is some discussion of this in relation to CCK fields. I do have CCK installed but generally have been using the book module to create nodes. I did add a field to the default one but it is not the body.

Any help apreciated. Thank you.