>>I have seen ConfigMaker, but never used it actively. All our course is oriented towards learning commands.
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>It is a neat program for visually constructing a network and delivering configurations to devices. ...

For my students, I think it is also useful to see the commands for some advanced technology which we haven't seen in class yet.

>NO SHUTDOWN would not bring Serial0 up. It is a WIC T1 that the router diagnostics indicated was OK. Will an interface come up and stay up if there is no signal?

I think not. A signal must be detected. SHOW INTERFACE can help diagnose problems, but it is tricky to read the results!

>Got the router back from Phoenix today. Got an image from Cisco earlier in the week. Monday I'll hook it all back up and use zModem to load the OS. Maybe then I can get it right!

For a backup, I suggest you set up a TFTP (Trivial FTP) server - several free ones are available - and use COPY FLASH TFTP to make a backup copy, to a PC.

We get our images erased frequently - students practice, you know - but were so far able to restore from another identical router (via a TFTP server).