hi! Thanks for answering, all of you!
I copied the files to /testing. Not testing/wordpress.
I’ll try to delete everything in the database, i haven’t used it for anything other than originally setting up wordpress but i never got going with any posts.
what is a table prefix and how do i make a new one?
I have one other question. i wanted to set this up in /testing so that i can have a “rebuilding” sign up on the index page. but is it possible to set the whole site up in one place and then move it to the root? with all this database trouble i’m getting worried that my first plan won’t even work…