telnet/ftp problem

hi all,
I can't get telnet and ftp services to start on my Linux RH 8 box. i
had it running for some days. for the past few days i ve been getting
the following errors when i run telnet and ftp:

telnet 127.0.0.1
Trying 127.0.0.1...
telnet:ftp 127.0.0.1

ftp: connect: Connection refused
ftp>
connect to address 127.0.0.1: Connection refused

I think i must have messed up with one of the config files

heres a list of the config files

no entries in /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny

The /etc/xinetd.d/telnet file has entries
service telnet
{
disable = no
flags = REUSE
socket_type = stream
wait = no
user = root
server = /usr/sbin/in.telnetd
log_on_failure += USERID
}


i know for fact that the telnet and ftp daemons are not running
because
netnetstat -tln | grep 21
netstat -tln | grep 23

doesnt retun anything

but chkconfig --list shows telnet and ftp on(also tried chkconfig
telnet on)


My firewall is off, has no rules and chains are ACCEPT. have also
tried
#service xinetd restart, but with no success

any help would be higly appretiated

kiran TG