Ok long story short I used the Dependences functions to find the required services. You missed one or two and at least 3 of the services you mentioned did not exist.

Now I can see my computer but not the web sites folder.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3412/tablebh0.gif

I guess you used the Windows Resource Kit utilities (reg.exe and depends.exe) to determine that.

I wanted to help, thinking that your PC has a default setup, like everyone else.
This is turning into a 5hrs troubleshooting task just to start a server, when in fact it should take us 30min to have vBulletin up and running on your localhost.

If you manage to get IIS up and running, let me know.
I will post then how to setup PHP and MySQL. I hope we will not have any other similar problems.

I simply right clicked on a service->properties->dependencies.

I guess I will just give up then. I know nothing about IIS and have spent 5 hours trying to do this the old school way.

I can fix 90% of problems that arise for me in Vb but this is far over my head.

Thanks for all your help, and hopefully my last post may benifiet you in the future when attempting a similar set up.

From your PM, it looks like you got it working! :)
Perfect. Let me know when you are available to work on the PHP and MySQL install.

I dont know how to do that. Also I still have a slight problem. I jumped the gun a bit. When i go to http://localhost/ I get this error message:
Any idea how to fix this?

When you said \wwwroot does that go into php folder?

And I have done everything you said.

Also where can i find MySQL Administrator. I find 64 bit versions but i am on 32 bit Win XP.

Don't worry, I know you were venting. It felt good, right? :D
I was venting also, hehe. We will work toghether to fix the damn problems, I will stay beside you until we get it right.

When i go to http://localhost/ I get this error message
I have no idea why you get this error. I don't understand why you disabled the default services in Windows. They are there for a reason, not for fun. Now look at the nasty errors you get...

When you said \wwwroot does that go into php folder?
No, the folders are at the same level.
In other words, inside C:\inetpub folder you create 2 new folders (php and mysql).

And you are done yet, you did not installed PHP and MySQL.
I will continue to help you tomorrow, when I'm at work. :)
I have Vista at home and Windows Media Center at work...

I'm proud of the fact you did not give up and you want to stick with a real install method, not those crappy pre-made installers that do all for you.
Stay away from those things, they are designed for people who are not interested in coding and server configurations. When it comes the day you want to upgrade your PHP version, you will notice that you are screwed because you cannot do it... not to mention that you have no idea also how to do it...

PS. To bad the old people are not anymore here. This thread would crawl with good hackers helping you, if the year would 2001-2002. Now, nobody gives a crap, as you can see. Only old monsters like myself and 2-3 others might bump and help you...

Back to my Fedora Core 7 Test2 install... Ciao, a demain.

Which part did you think I was venting? Can;t say I was really, more like frustrated as vB Support is taking there sweet ass time and i got IIS working only to hit another bug.

As for disabling win services, they where services I had no use for. My computer ran fine with out them.

Yeah miss the good ol days. Man I remember when boofo was a mod. I loved that old guy. Even in mid 2005 when i joined things were different then they were now.

I will look into that error more today and see if i can get it working. If I do I will let you know.

And where can i find MySql Admin?!:o Do i need the linux version to put on my server or windows for my local machine running XP?

I played with a few settings an now i get this when i go to http://localhost/:
The page cannot be displayed
There is a problem with the page you are trying to reach and it cannot be displayed.

Please try the following:

* Open the localhost home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
* Click the Refresh button, or try again later.

HTTP 403.2 - Forbidden: Read Access Forbidden
Internet Information Services

Technical Information (for support personnel)

* Background:
This error can be caused if there is no default page available and directory browsing has not been enabled for the directory, or if you are trying to display an HTML page that resides in a directory marked for Execute or Script permissions only.

* More information:
Microsoft Support

Very good, we are getting there, if you get a 403 we are in business. :)
Now, install PHP.

Go to PHP site and download this package:
PHP 5.2.1 zip package [9,545Kb] - 08 Feb 2007
http://www.php.net/downloads.php

Extract it's contents to folder C:\inetpub\php
Drop inside the above mentioned folder the file I attached into this post and rename it to php.ini

Now, just to make sure, double check this:
Go to IIS console and right-click on Web Sites > Properties
Click on tab Documents, you should already have there index.php
Don't close it we need it on the next step.

Next, we need to add the .php extension into IIS so it gets recognized.
Click on Home Directory tab, beside Documents (window still open)
Click on Configuration button
On Mappings tab, click on Add button
Executable: Browse to executable php-cgi.exe, located in C:\inetpub\php
Extension: .php
Limit to: GET,HEAD,POST (no spaces)
Click OK 3 times.

PHP is installed, reboot your PC.

"Click on Home Directory tab, beside Documents (window still open)
Click on Configuration button"
When i click config it does nothing. :(

Actually if i right click on default site then click config it works. So i did that and added php like that.

That's fine, you will use only one site, I'm pretty sure.
Now test to see if it works.

Go to C:\inetpub\wwwroot folder and delete all files/folders in there.
Create a new file called index.php, with the content:
Now, into your browser, open this link:
http://localhost/

You should see the default PHP configuration file with all options enabled.
First look at this option:
Configuration File (php.ini) Path: C:\inetpub\php\php.ini
If it shows this, scroll down and let me know if you see there a section called mysqli.
(search for it with a CTRL + F, faster)

If you do, PHP is installed properly.
We can proceed with MySQL install... almost done. :)