OK, I did all the wipe it clean and start over stuff.

It still doesn't work. (unavailable database error)

I checked with telnet, yes I can get to the machine on port 3050.

the services panel looks fine. Now I have all that stuff under
programs. Regedit shows two entries, just like it did from the zip
install.

For what it's worth: when he shut down the machine, moved it, and
brought it back up, the original error I got was that the service
wouldn't start -- it timed out. That's why I uninstalled and started
over (sigh).

this does not look good.

Ann Cecil