mb string install problems

I attempted to install PHP on my RH ES 3 system and using source version of
php 4.3.8 and apache 2.0.52.  I followed this tutorial
http://www10.brinkster.com/ssruprai/comphp.asp and when compiling the php
code form source I used --enable-mbstring=all  that I found here
http://php.planetmirror.com/manual/en/ref.mbstring.php  Now all of my
Japanese text is moji baki (unreadable). I am fairly new to PHP so here are
my questions
1. After the install do I still need to copy the php.ini-recomended and make
changes to it according to the
ref.mbstring.php ?
2. I do not appear to have a php.ini file installed and yet php runs on my
server? I have several pages in php that pass data to another server and so
on that have no problem.
3. I want to reuse this set up or ini file that has the same version of php
installed but with out the MB string option. can I copy the ini file or do I
have to recompile?

thanks in advance for your help.


Erin D. Hughes
T-Mark
042-223-8310
erin@t-mark.co.jp

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but
because of those who look on and do nothing."
-Albert Einstein