Got an idea, should I upgrade XP to Pro with my other cd? The problem with that is if it interferes with any programs I have now, and I might need new updates.... what do you think?

I couldn't get it setup right, it was running but it set my site to my computer name.wi.rr.com which just didn't seem to work. Maybe IIS would be easier?

The easiest way to test if it is working, would be to visit http://localhost. You should get an Apache default page. If you go to www.whatismyip.com you can check your IP address. If you tell others to visit http://thatipaddress they should also get the page.

IIS is generally easier so if you can easilly upgrade to XP Pro, it might be worth doing if Apache doesn't seem to work.

Well I couldn't find the serial for my CD of XP Pro. I hope I didn't throw it out! I'll try apache again.

Here is a good tutorial for running your IBF forum using apache ;)

And now, a good one if you want to use IIS

Thanks! Downloading all those files it said to have now....

Okay everything is going fine except my installation of IPB. SIGH.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

I think I know, in the pdf tutorial it says to:

Open command prompt, create a new sql database. Well it tells me it is not recognized as an internal or external... whatever. I'm trying to make thepub-dev for a new database.

Hmmm, did you install MySQL? After you've installed it, you need to make sure the MySQL service is started (should be done automatically after a reboot). Also it should set a little GUI MySQL monitor to run at startup, and when this is first started you should have an option of setting an admin username and password.

When you get MySQL it'self working, I would recommend you install PHPMyAdmin - a free PHP script which lets you view/troubleshoot the MySQL DB.