mysql_real_escape_string()

Last week the server my web site hosting company uses went down (along with a bunch of other servers) My files have been moved to another server the company uses. I am in the midst of configuring my site for the new server. Before the server went down I wasn't getting error messages. I know my PHP code is ok. The new server is configured slightly differently. The server is set up with the following: Operating system Linux Kernel version 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp Apache version 1.3.33 (Unix) PHP version 4.3.10 MySQL version 4.1.22-standard I am tweaking my site to make it work. My actual question is this line of code: $other = mysql_real_escape_string($other); is giving me this error message: Warning: mysql_real_escape_string(): Access denied for user 'nobody'@'localhost' (using password: NO) in /path/to/file/file.php on line 148 Warning: mysql_real_escape_string(): A link to the server could not be established in /path/to/file/file.php on line 148 I understand the error message and the request an open connection to the database. Where the previous server didn't require this I am wondering if there is a line I may add to my .htaccess to by-pass this requirement. My concern is that if I don't find all the instances I will have errors on my site ... this is extensive to correct. Suggestions? Ron