This is an interesting one that certainly deserves its own post here. It took me a while to find this solution. Here goes:

So you set your development environment in Windows Vista by installing apache, php, perl and mysql. You point your browser to your php script that uses mysql connection and this is what you get:

Call to undefined function mysql_connect()

What a disappointment!

Go to your php directory and open your php.ini file. If you followed my previous post about installing php, your directory should be located in C:\PHP. Here are the changes you need to make in php.ini file:

1)Set the extension directory by finding the line that starts with "extension_dir" and changing to
extension_dir = "C:\php\ext"

2)Uncomment the following line by removing ";" at the start of the line.
extension=php_mysql.dll

Restart apache and go back to your script.

There is a possibility you will get a cryptic Windows Vista Error telling you that the server stopped working and Windows Vista will inform you when a solution found. Nice!

Here is the solution when php and mysql crash apache server in Vista:

1) Go to your mysql installation directory and rename libmysql.dll to libmysql.dll.bak just in case something else goes wrong. libmysql.dll is located in BIN directory in your mysql installation directory.

2) Go to your php installation directory -- C:\PHP in my case -- and copy libmysql.dll located here to your-mysql-install-dir\bin where the one we renamed was.

3) Restart apache.

Hopefully your php script with mysql connection will work now.

Microsoft has done it again!

If you enjoyed the pain of upgrading Vista get ready for another wave of pain.

A week ago I downloaded the Vista Service Pack 1 and ran the update on my Sony laptop which halted at boot. Tried the safe mode and saw crcdisk.sys as the last entry when the computer halts. A quick search about crcsisk.sys revealed that others had the same problem and some had to go through re-installing vista to fix it. Scary stuff... Luckily I had made a set of recovery disks and a quick system restore solved the problem of not being able to boot.

So I waited for Vista Service Pack Update to be delivered by Windows update. Today, after prompting I let the update go through again. Call me brave or stupid... Guess what? My laptop halted at boot with an error message about acpi.sys being corrupt which required another recovery disk repair and rolling back the update. This is ridiculous.

Here are the results of search about Vista Service Pack Problems on Yahoo. This is scary stuff.

I just can not understand this blunder by Microsoft that is called VISTA... How is it that a new OS upgrade demands more memory, more computing power, more money to get these things and runs slower? How is it that by upgrading to a new OS you end up dumping some of your peripheral hardware because there are no drivers available? How is it that when it is time to update this new OS, it halts your computer? How can a multi-billion dollar company make such a blunder?

Six months ago, it was nearly impossible to find a new computer with Windows XP. They are easier to find now. We just ordered two with XP professional loaded from DELL.  And I heard Microsoft will discontinue Windows XP. Unbelievable! I think Vista offers a great opportunity to enter the Computer OS market for a company who can put together a reliable, feature-packed, compatible linux distro. I also hear Vista runs better on MAC. How Ironic! You got Apple building computers with INTEL chips and making them capable of running Microsoft software while Microsoft trying to turn Windows into a Mac look-alike with all the useless eye candy. First thing I do with a computer loaded with Vista is to turn off all that Aero stuff.

I hope computer and hardware manufacturers start putting some pressure on Microsoft to get its act together because their tech support lines will be getting a lot of calls after this Vista Service Pack 1 start going through the Windows Update.

UPDATE Jan 9, 2009 >>>

After I re-imaged the my hard drive to the original setup, I went through the Vista Service Pack 1 update without a problem by following the instructions on Sony Support site:

When using the Windows Update utility, the installed Microsoft Hotfix KB948343 may block the installation of the Windows Vista® Service Pack 1 (SP1) update if the following drivers are also installed:

Sigmatel Audio Version 6.10.5511.0 (or earlier)
Intel Graphics Version 7.14.10.1322 - 7.14.10.1403
UPEK finger Print Version 1.9.2.99 (or earlier)

If you are experiencing this issue, you will need to download and install the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Five Language Stand Alone KB936330 update from the Microsoft Download Center at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b0c7136d-5ebb-413b-89c9-cb3d06d12674&DisplayLang=en.

IMPORTANT: The Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Five Language Stand Alone KB936330 file size is 434.5MB, and may take a while to download.

When trying to run Windows Vista Help and Support, I kept getting "Internet Explorer cannot download / from windows" error with a blank Help and Support window. I needed to get to Help and Support so I can create recovery disks for my laptop.

Here is the solution I found online:

If you have been getting the dreaded "Internet Explorer cannot download / from help" error message when attempting to open Help and Support in Windows Vista, try this fix. It re-associates the .xml file type with its default settings, which may be altered by application installation routines such as the one for Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. Once you've merged this into the registry, re-launch Help and Support and it should work.

Fix Windows Vista Help and Support

The link on this post does not work but this link found on VistaClues.com works:

http://www.chris123nt.com/guides/RTM_Fixes/Fix_Help_and_Support.zip.

It is a registry patch:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml]
@="xmlfile"
"Content Type"="text/xml"
"PerceivedType"="text"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml\OpenWithList]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml\OpenWithList\winword.exe]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml\PersistentHandler]
@="{7E9D8D44-6926-426F-AA2B-217A819A5CCE}"

Everytime I have an issue like this with Windows XP or Vista, I end up finding a solution and fix it and then forget about it. Well, it never fails that I face the same problem again on my computer or on another computer and I go through the same steps of searching online to find the right solution. So I decided to post these tips here for future reference. Hopefully these tips will be useful for others also.