Since I installed apache from source and not an RPM I do not have an
It would have existed before you compiled/installed from source (assuming apache was installed beforehand). If the httpd executable is in the same place then the "service" command should still work. At least, I'd be very surprised if installing from source deletes it. Does /etc/init.d/httpd not exist?
for many versions. Its just with PHP 4.2.3 that it stops working.
Have you managed to find the file "apachectl"?