Are you specifying the login for an admin in the new forum? Regarding the homepage link, you will need to change that in admin options -> Main Forum Config.
yes i set up a name and password for Admin - the first thing i did. its still not appearing. i also had a look at my other forum and admin options are not coming up there either.
both forums have the same folder for their respective DBs. all other files are seperarate.
just found something: it seemed to keep me logged in for about one second only. if i clicked to 'member details' very fast it was ok; if i waited too long it shut me out and said i wasn't logged in.