YOUR HOSTING ENVIRONMENT ::

There are a couple of things initially worth knowing about your hosting environment. To skip over this click here.

PHP can be installed as a module or as a CGI interpreter. You'll need to know this to save time later on, so ask your host for this information.

Alternatively, paste the following code into notepad and save it as test.php by:

File > Save As > Save as type > and choose "All Files"

then enter test.php in File name, and save.
 

Upload this file to the root of your web server, open a browser and type http://www.yourdomain.com/test.php
replacing yourdomain.com with your real domain name.

You should see something like this - SCREENSHOT

Look for Server API - if it says "CGI", then at the very least the following will NOT be available to you - so make a note of these now. It might save *lots* of time later on:

HTTP_SERVER_VARS["PHP_AUTH_USER"]
HTTP_SERVER_VARS["PHP_AUTH_PW"]

neither will ...

$_SERVER["PHP_AUTH_USER"]
$_SERVER["PHP_AUTH_PW"]

Disregard the above if your Server API reads Apache.

Next, scroll down to magic_quotes_gpc and note if this is ON or OFF. Also, magic_quotes_runtime.

Just below this, look for register_globals and note if these are ON or OFF.

Finally, make a note of which version of PHP is installed.

Now save the file from your browser to your hard drive for future reference and then delete the file on the remote web server. You can always upload test.php again if you need to.