I've been banging my head against my desk trying to figure out this installation thing.
Here's the details on my setup:
Windows 7
Apache 2.2.21
PHP 5.2.17
MySQL 5.5.16
I even installled MySQL Workbench which I've been using to set up accounts, dbs, etc.
Apache is up and running--I can access localhost and see whatever pages I have in my server dir.
PHP is working--I can access PHP pages and see PHP, not a text dump of the PHP file.
MySQL is working--I've run a PHP test connection page and can successfully connect to the DB with the same username/pw I would be using for Drupal install. The script only tests connect, nothing else.
Also, I copied default.settings.php to create settings.php in the proper directory (both files are present and neither are read-only).
When I start the install process, I can select language and enter info on the db Drupal would be using. Then browser goes to an installation page, displaying:
Installing Drupal
Remaining 6 of 10.
Installed User module.
It hangs here for several moments then I get the following:
The installation has encountered an error.
Please continue to the error page
An HTTP error 500 occurred. http://localhost/drupaltest/install.php?locale=en&profile=default&id=1&o...