Installing Share point services

We have a small lan (30 computers)using server 2003 and were using sharepoint services until it crashed and burned… all the info i could find suggested uninstalling and reinstalling this i did… DOH!! now all i get after install is an error page saying

Server Error in ‘/_layouts’ Application.
——————————————————————————–

Runtime Error
Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a tag within a “web.config” configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This tag should then have its “mode” attribute set to “Off”.

What does this mean?

Can anyone point in the direction of information on how to fix it? Info that is not gobble de gook if possible

Notes: The current error page you are seeing can be replaced by a custom error page by modifying the “defaultRedirect” attribute of the application’s configuration tag to point to a custom error page URL.

Can anyone explain what this means to someone who is NEW to sharepoint services?

Could someone also tell me how to fix it OR point me the direction of a website that isnt all gobble de gook and uses relatively plain terms. IE real english not technobabble