Hi, Robert
Not sure about the no license ver. of Mach issue and how you have everything setup, Hear are the steps I'd take.
1. Disconnect the Z stepper at the drive coupling or run the Z down far enough that disconnecting the power will stop axis before a crash.
2. Mach only needs one input to provide homing/limits operation, Unless your doing something special, Connect NC switch's in Series to your input pin #.
3. In Config, Ports & Pins, Inputs, Set X,Y,Z Home to that Pin & Port #, Make sure the Emulated are set to X.
4. In Config, General Config, Set the De-Bounce Interval to 2000, "Helps Mach to have time to see the Switches state of change".
5. Test your Home Switch's by Manually Actuating them, While the Axis is Far Away from the the Home Switch.
Some have used .01 capacitors across the switch contact's, I've never had to do this.
Mach in Homing Mode knows which Axis is moving and stops it if any of the switch's open, In Limit's mode it stop's All Axis's.
Mach saves an XML file on shutdown, It's name is the same name as your startup configuration at startup typically "Mach3Mill.XML", It's located in your Mach3 Folder, After you get everything working save a copy somewhere else on your computer after shutdown of Mach.
Hope this Helps.
Thanks, Chip