session problems across pages

thanks for the help, it definitely saved my from hours of pulling at me hairs. however i have a new problem. i can create session variables, but i can't access them across pages. for example. page2.php Code: <?php // start the session session_start(); header("Cache-control: private"); //IE 6 Fix echo "<strong>Step 2 - Register Session </strong><br />"; // Get the user's input from the form $name = $_POST['name']; // Register session key with the value $_SESSION['name'] = $name; // Display the sssion information: ?> Welcome to my website <strong><? echo $_SESSION['name']; ?></strong>!<br /> Let's see what happens on the <a href="page3.php">next page.</a><br /><br /> page3.php Code: <?php // start the session session_start(); header("Cache-control: private"); //IE 6 Fix ?> <strong>Step 3 - test Session Part II </strong><br /> Hey <strong><? echo $_SESSION['name']; ?></strong> Everything is still working!<br /><br /> <strong>Pick an option:</strong><br /> Let's delete this session value now. <a href="page4.php">Click Here.</a><br /> Let's destroy this session. <a href="page5.php">Click Here.</a><br /><br /> on page2.php (after the _SESSION['name'] variable is set with a form on another page) the value of the variable comes up fine. however on page3.php, the value is blank. any thoughts why? i tried tinkering with the php.ini (v.4.0 on a Win98 box) but nothing changed.