Learning PHP/MySQL Installation Question

First posted to alt.php.sql, but suspect this might be the place to
get more answers.

Hi,

First post here and have what I think is an easy question.

As the subject says I'm learning PHP and MySQL (been meaning to do
this for almost a year!). I'm reading various tutorials and they tend
to start with installation instructions.

I have my own dedicated servers that are pre installed with PHP and
MySQL. Have had a PHP file working and created a test database and
added a table in MYSQL so know both are working on the server. Though
not tried to use the two together yet.

So my question is do I really need to install PHP and MySQL on a PC
and if so why?

Assuming I should install them is there an easy way to do this for
Windows XP Pro?

I vaguely recall seeing a post about bundled releases that install
easier than the individual programs. I tried installing them
singularly a few months back on a Win XP Home PC and ran into no end
of problems! One of the reasons I upgraded to XP Pro.

I plan to create a lot of sites from databases I have access to, so
will be doing a lot of work with the above long term.

Which brings me to another question while I'm here. I have some MS
Access databases, is there a recommended way to convert these to
MySQL? I have access to phpMyAdmin via a Plesk 6 server running Apache
2.0 (something, think 4 ). phpMyAdmin has the option to import text
files, should I convert the access DB to a text file and then import
into MySQL? If so what sort of txt file should I create?

Thanks, real pain in the rear having to learn new things sometimes
)

David
--
http://www.search-engine-optimization-services.co.uk/

 > I have my own dedicated servers that are pre installed with PHP and
 > MySQL. Have had a PHP file working and created a test database and
 > added a table in MYSQL so know both are working on the server. Though
 > not tried to use the two together yet.
 >
 > So my question is do I really need to install PHP and MySQL on a PC
 > and if so why?

OK. If you have a server with PHP and MySQL working on it, then you should
not also need to use your PC; you can simply create like a debug folder on
your server and work from that (to avoid accidentally corrupting any files
that you may have).

 > Which brings me to another question while I'm here. I have some MS
 > Access databases, is there a recommended way to convert these to
 > MySQL? I have access to phpMyAdmin via a Plesk 6 server running Apache
 > 2.0 (something, think 4 ). phpMyAdmin has the option to import text
 > files, should I convert the access DB to a text file and then import
 > into MySQL? If so what sort of txt file should I create?

I honestly don't know what you can do for that subject.

-Wes