When I type in the 'demo()' prompt all I get is the prompt shown again.

General
1

'demo()'
[1] "demo()"
"demo()"
[1] "demo()"
'help.start()'
[1] "help.start()"
'help()'
[1] "help()"
"q()"
[1] "q()"

2

Putting quote marks (single or double) around a command turns it into a string, which R just echos back. If you want to run the demonstration scripts, type demo() at a prompt without quotes.