Ya, I know exactly the problem your having, I went through exactly the same
process and it just drove me nuts.  I can't remeber how I stumbled on the
answer but it was more luck than anything.  The secret is simple, the
configuration bits are specified when you program the chip, and not in the
assembled program.

I assume you have downloaded and fired up MPLAB.  If you have a programmer,
such as
the PICSTART Plus, when you click on "Enable Programmer" under the
"PICSTART PLUS" menu
you will see where all of the configuration options can be selected from
drop-down menu's.
Naturally, you will have had to configure MPLAB for the 17C44 for your
project for it to
know which chip options are valid.

Now, you can include a configuration line in your assembly which will
inform MPLAB
what you want all of the options to default to so that you don't actually
have to
remember what to set them to.  The syntax is like this:

        LIST   P=PIC17C44, R=DEC

        __CONFIG _MC_MODE & _XT_OSC & _WDT_64
        #include "P17c44.inc"

Note that it is a double underscore in front of the __CONFIG.
The available options for the config line are defined in the P17c44.inc
file, which
is included when you loaded MPLAB (free from Microchip)

for the 17C44, they are:

;==========================================================================
;
;       Configuration Bits
;
;==========================================================================

_PMC_MODE                       EQU     H'7FAF'
_XMC_MODE                       EQU     H'FFBF'
_MC_MODE                        EQU     H'FFEF'
_MP_MODE                        EQU     H'FFFF'

_WDT_NORM                       EQU     H'FFF3'
_WDT_OFF                        EQU     H'FFF3'
_WDT_64                         EQU     H'FFF7'
_WDT_256                        EQU     H'FFFB'
_WDT_1                          EQU     H'FFFF'

_LF_OSC                         EQU     H'FFFC'
_RC_OSC                         EQU     H'FFFD'
_XT_OSC                         EQU     H'FFFE'
_EC_OSC                         EQU     H'FFFF'




At 04:10 PM 99/03/12 -0500, you wrote:
>Having finished my initial flow charts, I have started writing my first
>program for a 17C44.  I intend to use it with an external clock in a
>microcontroller mode and no watchdog, for the moment.  I have looked through
>all the 17Cxx examples on MicroChip's ftp site, and not once did I see where
>anyone set the configuration word.  According to the 17C4X documentation
>(30412C.PDF Page 100), you should write the configuration data at locations
>FE00-FE0F.  It then goes on to talk about using TABLWT instruction in order
>to write the data into program memory.  But is this not something that
>should be written into the locations FE00-FE0F when you program the EPROM?
>
>If anyone has dealt with this before I would appreciate some words of
>enlightenment!
>
>Thanks,
>David V. Fansler
> Network Administrator
> AutoCyte, Inc.
> 800-426-2176 Ext. 261
> dfansler@autocyte.com <mailto:dfansler@autocyte.com>
>Now Showing! www.mindspring.com/~dfansler
>Opinions Expressed Within Are Mine And May Not Reflect Those Of My Employer
>
>
Bob Bullock
President
ProStyle Software
bobb@prostyle.com