Multiple table joins

[M]

Hello,

I'm having a horrible issue with MySQL 4.1

I have 10 tables, all identical structure, filled with flat files. I'm trying to grab all the data from the same column in each of the tables and am having no luck doing so. I'd like to select the DISTINCT data as well, but I'd rather get this out of the way before continuing on with that. My computer pretty much crashes once I submit this:

select table1.description
from table1, table2
where table1.ZIP = table2.ZIP;

Also tried

select table1.DESCRIPTION, table2.DESCRIPTION
from table1, table2;
_

the cursor then sits there and blinks.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
M