Hey SerratedMind, im not terribly overwhelmed id say closer to frustrated with work, trying to get into school, and trying to learn a new language on top of that.
Norm has been an incredible help, many kudos to him.
I had a breakthrough night in that i sat down at a different PC at the library and was able to set my PATH only, and not set CLASSPATH, and I was able to compile my java files. i have been able to get helloworld to work at school and Ive also made my own two line statements and compiled and they have worked.
its just for whatever reason I cannot get my home machine to work properly.
ill look at your links tonight - as of right now im researching how to reset my PATH and CLASSPATH to the original settings and then try to reset.
thanks again,
ch103