mbstring, mcrypt, php4ts and other errors

I know this is a lot but it is the culmination of 5 days of cold sweaty fear
and neck cringing frustration.



The following is installed in my Windows XP (Home Version 2002, Service Pack
2) machine. Please bear in mind I installed all of this according to
instructions in a php beginner book. "I am a novice user" is an
understatement. ^_^



- php-5.2.5

- apache-2.2.8

- phpmyadmin-2.11.5

- xampp-2.5

- mysql server 5.0



Here are the problems I am encountering followed by solutions I attempted to
no avail:



In the phpMyadmin console:

"The mbstring PHP extension was not found and you seem to be using a
multibyte charset."



(1) suggestion = uncomment the extension line in the ini file:

The line did not even exist in my ini file. Upon post suggestion I
re-installed php, still get the error

(2) copied and pasted php_mbstring.dll in every conceivable folder
associated with php: (C:\php, C:\php\ext, C:\WINDOWS, C:\WINDOWS\system,
C:\WINDOWS\system32, C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2,
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs, C:\Program
Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs\myadmin)

(3)Re-installed php-5.2.5

Error still appears in the phpmyadmin console



In the phpMyadmin console:

"Cannot load mcrypt extension. Please check your PHP configuration."

(1) repeated the same copy/pasting as above with the libmcrypt.dll

Error still appears in the phpmyadmin console



I decided to ignore the phpmyadmin issues until I can finish the book. Until
I encountered this when attempting to execute the go-pear.bat file:

"This application has failed to start because php4ts.dll was not found.
Re-installing the application may fix this problem."

Re-installed php5.2.5, nothing changed.



As the book suggested, I then typed 'php.exe' from the command prompt and
got this:

'php.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable
program or batch file.



As instructed by the book, I then added C:\php to the path variable in the
system environment. After reviewing a tutorial on changing environmental
variables, as I am totally clueless, I added the following:



User variables for Owner - Variable %PATH%   Value C:\php

System variables - Variable %PATH%   Value C:\php



I still get the error. After that I tried double clicking the php.exe and
the go-pear.bat in the php folder on C and got this on both:

'This application has failed to start because php4ts.dll was not found.
Re-installing the application may fix this problem.'



HOWEVER, After clicking OK on the error for the go-pear.bat file the command
prompt asked this:

'Are you installing a system-wide PEAR or a local copy?'

local

'Confirm local by typing 'yes''

yes



It then showed a list of file paths and asked if I wished to accept. I hit
Enter to accept. A series of things happened and some new files appeared in
the PHP folder. I then tried to execute the php go-pear.phar and received
the same php4ts.dll error and the missing mbstring error.



As you can imagine it is a nightmare to a beginner. I wanted to delete
everything I installed and start all over, however I am unsure of the
consequences. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am just trying to get
through Chapter 9 in my book!!!

On 20 Mar, 15:40, "The Green Potato" <a...@a.a> wrote:
> I know this is a lot but it is the culmination of 5 days of cold sweaty fe
ar
> and neck cringing frustration.
>
> The following is installed in my Windows XP (Home Version 2002, Service Pa
ck
> 2) machine. Please bear in mind I installed all of this according to
> instructions in a php beginner book. "I am a novice user" is an
> understatement. ^_^
>
> - php-5.2.5
>
> - apache-2.2.8
>
> - phpmyadmin-2.11.5
>
> - xampp-2.5
>
> - mysql server 5.0
>
> Here are the problems I am encountering followed by solutions I attempted 
to
> no avail:
>
> In the phpMyadmin console:
>
> "The mbstring PHP extension was not found and you seem to be using a
> multibyte charset."
>
> (1) suggestion = uncomment the extension line in the ini file:
>
> The line did not even exist in my ini file. Upon post suggestion I
> re-installed php, still get the error
>
> (2) copied and pasted php_mbstring.dll in every conceivable folder
> associated with php: (C:\php, C:\php\ext, C:\WINDOWS, C:\WINDOWS\system,
> C:\WINDOWS\system32, C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2
,
> C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs, C:\Program
> Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs\myadmin)
>
> (3)Re-installed php-5.2.5
>
> Error still appears in the phpmyadmin console
>
> In the phpMyadmin console:
>
> "Cannot load mcrypt extension. Please check your PHP configuration."
>
> (1) repeated the same copy/pasting as above with the libmcrypt.dll
>
> Error still appears in the phpmyadmin console
>
> I decided to ignore the phpmyadmin issues until I can finish the book. Unt
il
> I encountered this when attempting to execute the go-pear.bat file:
>
> "This application has failed to start because php4ts.dll was not found.
> Re-installing the application may fix this problem."
>
> Re-installed php5.2.5, nothing changed.
>
> As the book suggested, I then typed 'php.exe' from the command prompt and
> got this:
>
> 'php.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable
> program or batch file.
>
> As instructed by the book, I then added C:\php to the path variable in the
> system environment. After reviewing a tutorial on changing environmental
> variables, as I am totally clueless, I added the following:
>
> User variables for Owner - Variable %PATH%   Value C:\php
>
> System variables - Variable %PATH%   Value C:\php
>
>  I still get the error. After that I tried double clicking the php.exe and
> the go-pear.bat in the php folder on C and got this on both:
>
> 'This application has failed to start because php4ts.dll was not found.
> Re-installing the application may fix this problem.'
>
> HOWEVER, After clicking OK on the error for the go-pear.bat file the comma
nd
> prompt asked this:
>
> 'Are you installing a system-wide PEAR or a local copy?'
>
> local
>
> 'Confirm local by typing 'yes''
>
> yes
>
> It then showed a list of file paths and asked if I wished to accept. I hit
> Enter to accept. A series of things happened and some new files appeared i
n
> the PHP folder. I then tried to execute the php go-pear.phar and received
> the same php4ts.dll error and the missing mbstring error.
>
> As you can imagine it is a nightmare to a beginner. I wanted to delete
> everything I installed and start all over, however I am unsure of the
> consequences. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am just trying to g
et
> through Chapter 9 in my book!!!

XAMPP already installs php, mysql, apache, ...

Personally I just install WAMP5

> XAMPP already installs php, mysql, apache, ...
>
> Personally I just install WAMP5

Thanks Captain!
Do I need to uninstall all the things I installed first?

The Green Potato wrote: 
>
> Thanks Captain!
> Do I need to uninstall all the things I installed first?

I would. The less cr*p I have lying around my machine the better (IMHO)

"Paul Lautman" <paul.lautman@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:64hkfbF2a18etU1@mid.individual.net...
> The Green Potato wrote: 
>
> I would. The less cr*p I have lying around my machine the better (IMHO)
>

thanks everyone, i'll give it a try.