One heck of a day installing my site (a server problem with ftp, not zen)... after 12 hours, I can see the demo store.
BUT,
after installation, on the "Finish" page zc_install/index.php?main_page=finished there are two buttons at the bottom, something like "see the store" and " open admin area"
the store I can get to, but if I click to the admin area, I get this error in the browser:
The page isn't redirecting properly
Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

If I try going to the admin/index.php page with IE, it just spins in its tracks forever and never leaves google (my home page)...

I never get to a page to log into the database.

I am using the most current cart - new installation no customizations (I downloaded it today from the zen cart site)