New Win7 64-bit install of MiKTeX 2.9: pdflatex fails

I've searched through Google and seen several other posts with this exact
same error, but I cannot find a resolution that works for me.

I downloaded and installed the Windows 7 64-bit Net Installer, and
installed the Basic configuration. I then wrote a short four-line test file:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
This is a sample \Latex document.
\end{document}

and attempted to process it with "pdflatex First.tex". The results I got
were:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-2.4-1.40.13 (MiKTeX 2.9 64-bit)
pdflatex: The memory dump file could not be found.
pdflatex: Data: pdflatex.fmt

After some research, I ran Settings (Admin) and confirmed under the Formats
tab that pdflatex is not excluded. I then selected it and clicked on
"Build". I got the following:

The MiKTeX configuration utility failed. Do you want to see the transcript?

I clicked Yes and got:

Creating the pdflatex format file...
Running miktex-pdftex.exe...
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-2.4-1.40.13 (MiKTeX 2.9 64-bit) (INITEX)
entering extended mode
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\config\pdflatex.ini"
(C:\Users\Ray\AppData\Roaming\MiKTeX\2.9\tex\generic\config\pdftexconfig.tex)
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\latex.ltx"
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\00miktex\texsys.cfg")
./texsys.aux found


\@currdir set to: ./.


Assuming \openin and \input
have the same search path.


Defining UNIX/DOS style filename parser.

catcodes, registers, compatibility for TeX 2,  parameters,
LaTeX2e <2011/06/27>
hacks, control, par, spacing, files, font encodings, lengths,
====================================

Local config file fonttext.cfg used

====================================
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\00miktex\fonttext.cfg"
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\fonttext.ltx"
=== Don't modify this file, use a .cfg file instead ===

("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\omlenc.def")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\t1enc.def")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\ot1enc.def")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\omsenc.def")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\t1cmr.fd")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\ot1cmr.fd")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\ot1cmss.fd")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\ot1cmtt.fd")))
====================================

Local config file fontmath.cfg used

====================================
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\00miktex\fontmath.cfg"
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\fontmath.ltx"
=== Don't modify this file, use a .cfg file instead ===

("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\omlcmm.fd")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\omscmsy.fd")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\omxcmex.fd")
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\ucmr.fd")))
====================================

Local config file preload.cfg used

=====================================
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\preload.cfg"
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base\preload.ltx")) page nos.,
x-ref,
environments, center, verbatim, math definitions, boxes, title, sectioning,
contents, floats, footnotes, index, bibliography, output,
===========================================
Local configuration file hyphen.cfg used
===========================================
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\generic\babel\base\hyphen.cfg"
! Extra \endgroup.
l.154 \endgroup

!  ==> Fatal error occurred, no output PDF file produced!
Transcript written on pdflatex.log.
miktex-makefmt: miktex-pdftex.exe failed on pdflatex.ini.
initexmf.EXE: The operation failed for some reason.
initexmf.EXE: Data: C:\Program Files\MiKTeX
2.9\miktex\bin\x64\miktex-makefmt.exe

I'm concerned about the "Extra \endgroup" error in hyphen.cfg. Extensive
searching got me nowhere.

This is the second time I installed MiKTeX 2.9 (I got the same error the
first time, but thought I screwed up the install, so I completely
de-installed it and carefully re-installed it following the instructions on
the web), and I'm completely lost. Please help!

Ray
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