[ESS] Emacs won't start with ESS

[Richard M. Heiberger]

Try

(load-file 
"C:\\progra~1\\emacs\\emacs-22.3\\site-lisp\\ess-5.4\\lisp\\ess-site.el")

The embedded blank in "Program Files" often causes problems.  Therefore
use the 8.3 version of the name.  It is usually "progra~1", but not
always. Confirm the name in the MSDOS cmd window by entering
  dir c:\pr* /x

The single forward slash I sent and the double backslash you are using
are equivalent.

Rich