I figured out what was happening. When installing FPW 2.6, it installs VER.DLL into c:\winnt\system. When I was trying to start up foxpro, it would check that library, which isn't one that WinNT can use. As soon as I deleted this file, Foxpro continued the search into c:\winnt\system32 and found the right VER.DLL.

All this was thanks for a software package called Reveal, available at http://www.addisonsw.com. Check it out!