>
> It has to be the Firebird *root* and not the bin directory.
>

well I think I am making progress, but not sure.
this time I installed it in C:\Program Files\FirebirdSQL

when I changed directories to C:\Program Files\FirebirdSQL\bin
from there i ran instreg install "C:\Program Files\FirebirdSQL"

then I ran instsvc install "C:\Program Files\FirebirdSQL" -auto -
superserver - guardian ( I think that was the order of the switches
and the only ones )

the fbclient.dll and gds32.dll still were not copied to my
OS\System32 so i put them there.

I am using WinXP
when I start the services cpl in control panel, I see Firebird
Guardian and Firebird Server listed the path for both are correct,
they have a -s switch following the exe name, Guardian Startup type
is Automatic, Fbserver is manual. neither one have started and
neither one will start. When I attempt a start on fbServer it says
Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control
request in a timely fashion.
When I attempt to start Guardian,it says Error 1067: The process
terminated unexpectedly.

The account I am logged in on the XP does have admin privileges, but
is not the ADMin account. Should I be logged in as Administrator

Dixon Epperson