Prog. Editor will not connect but Serial Pic Prog will

I have spent a few days trying to get started with Picaxe but have met a brick wall:
I have a BAS800 programmer that gives me 'hardware not found' when I try to connect using Programming Editor 5.1.6. However the same hardware will connect and allow me to check for 'blank?' etc if I use the other programme supplied by yourselves "Serial Pic Programmer"
I am using a mains adaptor which is giving 12v input, a good 5.04v out of the 7805 voltage reg. chip on the board.
I have ordered and tried brand new Picaxe chips, 8M and 18A in case they were damaged but this made no difference.

I have then built the most simple test circuit on breadboard (as per manual) using another 8M but am still getting hardware not found. Batteries on this giving 4.5Vacross pins 1 and 8. I click on FIRMWARE? and the serial connection is giving an 8.5v signal when it tries to connect to the chip. Chip pin 2 is therefore getting raised to 3.9V for a couple of seconds when the programme tries to connect and drops again as it reports 'Hardware not found'

There is no measurable output on Pin7 during the connecting process. I am at a loss to understand this. Can you give me any pointers please? I have tried using different pcs, Win95 laptop. Win98 and XP sp2 desktop.
I have done all listed in the checklist, the problem seems to be the software?

When you get the "hardware not found" error how exactly are you trying to get the Programming Editor to use the BAS800 programmer ?

It sounds to me like you are trying to download a PICAXE Basic program directly into the BAS800 as if it were a PICAXE, which it isn't, which is why you get that error.

PICAXE chips do not go in the BAS800 programmer, they are programmed via the AXE026 or AXE027 download cable. The BAS800 is not part of the PICAXE system at all - it is for conventional programming of blank PICs.

Please see the PICAXE manual for more information.

Thanks for info on the BAS800. You can see that I am feeling my way a bit here.
How about the basic test circuit though? Why won't Prog Editor connect to this (see earlier post). Using either the TEST button or FIRMWARE? option I am getting the raised voltage to pin2 of the 8M but no response out of pin7 to tell the programme that the hardware exists. What am I missing here?

Mystery Solved

Its confession time: I thought I may have damaged my old chips so ordered new ones that I could rely on!
HOWEVER - It turns out that the new chips I bought from Tech Supplies were ordinary Pics, not Picaxe, chips so never contained the boot code. I had assumed they had to be good Picaxe chips because I selected them from Tech Supplies, the Picaxe supplier. (My fault entirely)
Naturally they also sell blanks, so the buyer needs to double check what he is ordering when placing the online order. Obvious once you realise but the cause of huge frustration before discovering it!
Moral of the tale- If your circuit doesn't do what you expected then go back and question all your assumptions!
Thanks to Hippy and Technical for their assistance.