Downloaded SharePoint Services
1.I selected Basic Button ?install single server stand alone using default
settings
2.Closed SharePoint Service Install and checked to start the configuration
wizard.
3.Next I said yes to the popup message: The following services may have to
be started or reset during configuration:
Internet Information Services
SharePoint Administration Services
SharePoint Timer Service
Choose yes to restart the services if required and continue with the
configuration wizard or no to exit the configuration.
4.It starts to configuring SharePoint Products and Technologies.
5.Then I get: Configuration Failed
One or more configuration setting failed. Completed configuration settings
will not be rolled back. Resolve the problem and run this configuration
wizard again. The following contains detailed information about the failure.
Failure to create the configuration database.
An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException was thrown. Additional
exception information: The language is not supported on the server. To
diagnose the problem, review the application event log and the configuration
log file located at: C:\ProgramFiles\CommonFiles\Microsoft Share\Web Server
Extensions\12\LOGS\PSCDiagnostics_5_27_2006_21_30_5_171_1721520950.log.
If I click on this link to check the log, I get a popup box with: Company
Folder Selection at the top.
If Timberline data files exist on your computer choose [Search Drive] or
[Specify Company Folders] to build a company folder selection list.
If no Timberline data files exist on your computer choose [Specify Company
Folders] to set up the location of your Timberline company folders.
Note: Searching drives can take a long time depending on how many drives and
company folders there are on your computer.
The following selection button are on the bottom: ??ancel?? ?Search Drives??
?Specify Company Folders??and ??elp??

If you know of a fix for this please leave a comment, send me an email to
kevin@knowledgemgmtsolutions.com or call me at 316-212-0402 or my cell
620-272-3927 as I would really like to get this installed to start testing it.

I have posted this issue over at Microsoft Office Discussion Groups under ??a title="http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?query=Kevin+tunis&dg=microsoft.public.sharepoint.portalserver&cat=en-us-servers-sharepointportalserver&lang=en&cr=US&pt=f5d94695-e885-477b-a965-b32e1ae532dc&catlist=&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-" href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?query=Kevin+tunis&dg=microsoft.public.sharepoint.portalserver&cat=en-us-servers-sharepointportalserver&lang=en&cr=US&pt=f5d94695-e885-477b-a965-b32e1ae532dc&catlist=&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-">Configuration Failed Windows SharePoint Services 3 Beta?? there are 3 others on that forum that have also had this issue.

per the support engineer:

Hi Kevin,

After trying this a few more times, I decided that I would remove SharePoint Services 3.0 and any databases created. I than went and installed SharePoint Services with Service Pack 2 with the idea that maybe I could upgrade from there. I successfully installed SharePoint Services with Service Pack 2. Than I installed SharePoint Service 3.0 using the upgrade method; I got the following error:

Configuration Failed

One or more configuration settings failed. Completed configuration settings will not be rolled back. Resolve the problem and run this configuration wizard again. The following contains detailed information about the failure:
Failed to initialize SharePoint Products and Tecnologies upgrade.
An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.PostSetupConfigurationTast Exception was thrown. Additional exception information: The pre-upgrade scan tool has not yet been run on all servers in the Farm. You must run the pre-upgrade scan tool before you can contibue with the upgrade process. Run the tool from the following path: C:\ProgramFiles\CommonFiles\MicrosoftShared\WebServerExtensions\12\bin\prescan.exe. After you have reviewed any issues found by the tool, you can run psconfig.exe again to continue with the upgrade process.
To diagnose the problem, review the application event log and the configuration log file located at: C:\ProgramFiles\CommonFiles\MicrosoftShared\WebServerExtensions\12\ LOGS\PSCDiagnostic 6.24.2006 18 4 19 593 1368381952.log

per an offline conversation, here's some additional info from the product team:

This was a known issue for B1TR where some of our registry settings become corrupted, and that might still be lingering for Beta 2. Our best advice would be to ensure that they are installing on a clean machine (e.g., reinstall the OS and try the install again). There are a couple of registry hacks that customers have tried to fix the issue, but we would recommend against them.

Check this link...
http://net.bloggix.com/default.aspx

or more specifically this one:
http://net.bloggix.com/PermaLink,guid,623d3c82-b88d-48ff-a086-b9bda21eed6d.aspx

This worked out nicely for me...