M-x indent-region not working (?)

[guanxi]

Thanks in advance for any help; I'm just learning my way around Emacs,
but I reviewed much of the documentation and postings and can't find
an answer.




M-x indent-region (or C-M-\) doesn't seem to behave per the manual: 
"C-M-\ (indent-region) applies to all the lines that begin in the
region; it indents each line in the "usual" way, as if you had typed
TAB at the beginning of the line."
www.gnu.org/manual/emacs/html_node/emacs_230.html


In text mode, if I select these regions and type C-M-\, I get the
following results.  In none of these examples does Emacs behave as if
I typed TAB at the beginning of each line -- is there somthing I
misunderstand?


#1
* REGION:

Dan generally uses two computers.  He has a Dell in his office and
uses the Compaq that is placed behind me in the "reception" area when
his computer is slow or he wants to print to printer west.

* RESULTS

[No change at all.  The Emacs cursor stops blinking for a moment, but
that's it.]




#2
* REGION

    testing indenting
    this region
    which uses tab indents

* RESULTS

    testing indenting
        this region
            which uses tab indents



#3
* REGION (some notes I took)

type: C-M-\
    does nothing 
type: M-x indent region
    displays: You can run the command 'indent-region' with C-M-\
type: C-M-o
    works: (move remainder of line directly down a line)

* RESULTS

type: C-M-\
    does nothing 
    type: M-x indent region
        displays: You can run the command 'indent-region' with C-M-\
        type: C-M-o
            works: (move remainder of line directly down a line)




My system:
    WinXP Pro
    GNU Emacs 21.2.1 (i386-msvc-nt5.1.2600) of 2002-03-19 on buffy


Thanks again!
guanxi