Thanks for your input. I have tried the various options suggested by the members, but to no avail. Here are the steps that I have taken so far:

1)Turning off the Windows firewall. This is the only internet security option available on my computer. This step didn't yield any result, so I turned it on again.
2)Pinging localhost and 3050. While pinging localhost is always successful, pinging 3050 is invariably failing.
3)Have added the port 3050 to the exception list group (for local network) in the Firewall (though I would like to know whether I should select TCP or UDP in this dialog box. I have left the default option TCP remain selected so far).
3)Have ensured that the Firebird service is running. I can see the instance of fb_inet_server.exe in the Process tab of the Task Manager.
4)Have copied the file fbclient.dll to the FlameRobin's executable path.
5) Am able to connect to the database from isql.
6)The only difference I have noticed is that the error message has now changed. The new error dialog can be accessed at : http://www.iimmgg.com/image/9e09103bde63927eaaf83977b280ad2c

I am hoping that this issue can be resolved now. BTW, I would be grateful if you could suggest a better (and free) alternative to FlameRobin.

Thanks for your continued support.

--- In firebird-support@yahoogroups.com, Milan Babuskov <milanb@...> wrote:
>
> Helen Borrie wrote:
> > Make sure there is a copy of fbclient.dll *copied from Firebird's \bin directory* in the same location as the FlameRobin executable.
>
> Let me fill in with some FR details. Actually, copying fbclient.dll is
> not needed, at least not in this case. FlameRobin uses IBPP which has
> auto-detection for fbclient. When it does not find it anywhere it
> reports a different error message, something like "Cannot load fbclient
> library".
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Milan Babuskov
>
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