Computer Bookshelf

Revised installation instructions for PHP, Apache & MySQL

Adding PHP to your Windows startup procedure

The procedure for adding PHP to your Windows startup procedure differs according to your version of Windows. First, modern versions of Windows.

Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003 or later

  1. Open the Windows Control Panel. Double-click the System icon. Select the Advanced tab, and click Environment Variables, as shown in the following screenshot.

    System properties dialog box

  2. In the lower half of the dialog box that opens, highlight Path in the System variables pane, and then click Edit, as shown in the next screenshot.

    Environment variables dialog box

  3. This will open a smaller dialog box, as shown here. Click inside the Variable value field, and move your cursor to the end of the existing value. Type a semicolon followed by the name of the PHP folder you created in step 3 of the previous section ( ;C:\php5). As shown in the screenshot, there should be no spaces between the existing value or in the new path name. Click OK.
  4. Setting the PHPRC variableWith the Environment Variables dialog box still open, click New in the System variables pane. This will open another small dialog box for you to enter the details of the new system variable. In the Variable name field, type PHPRC. In the Variable value field, enter the path of the PHP folder ( C:\php5).
  5. Click OK to close each of the dialog boxes still open. The changes will take effect the next time you restart Windows. Before doing so, you need to install and configure the Apache web server.

Adding PHP to Windows 98

  1. Open C:\autoexec.bat in Notepad and locate the line that begins PATH=C:\WINDOWS.
  2. At the end of the line, add a semicolon and the name of the PHP folder created in step 3 of the previous section ( ;C:\php5).
  3. On a new line at the end of the file, add the following:

    set PHPRC C:\php5
  4. Save autoexec.bat. The changes will take effect the next time you start your computer.