PHP is the most common gateway interface program that is usually installed in web servers for processing clients’ requests. There are free web hosting sites that offer PHP program but with limited functions. However, if one is interested to learn PHP, this segment of the site will guide you in setting up PHP in Microsoft Window XP OS. The official website of PHP is at http://www.php.net where all PHP software are available for downloads. The most recent PHP version is 5.2.5 and a lower version, which is the PHP 4.4.8, can also be downloaded at http://th.php.net/get/php-4.4.8-Win32.zip/from/a/mirror but its documentation is not anymore supported by the said site. Before installing the PHP program, Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) is required which can be installed under the Add/Remove Windows components. The figure shown below is necessary for the IIS configuration:


iisconfig.png

All html files should be stored under c:\inetpub\wwwroot\ directory including the php files. Accessing the html/php file can be done by typing http://localhost/example.php or http://computername/example.php in your web browser. With the set-up, then one can also start developing web based LAN applications.