All,

Making this change in texexec.ini cured (maybe) the problem. At least my file

\starttext \framed {Let’s see if it works.} \stoptext

compiled.

%for  miktex  set  TeXFormatFlag     to  --undump=
for  miktex  set  TeXFormatFlag     to  &

I am still very hesitant about my setup. I am hoping that Grzegorz
Sapijaszko or Ed L. Cashin are out there (or other Miktex gurus) and may
have something to help me with this problem.