OK, newb, maybe, but persistent and impatient, identify me, too. And NOW my site is active!
Here’s the answer I found. Four or five others stated parts, but only only dear John B. Baird had the complete, elegant answer. This is ESPECIALLY relevant to any of you hosting through 1and1.com. THANKS, John! http://aintageek.com/tag/500-internal-server-error
Any chance you could link this over to installation? That’s where I was doing all my perusing, and never would have found this without a more global google search. THANKS! Jerry