Help with GET variables which do not work after upgrading

Hey, I was happily using GET command line variables in my project under php 4.3.4 but when I upgrade to 4.3.9 they no longer work I can make them work by changing back to my prior version of php but would rather use the newer one can anyone explain why this may happen. here is some sample code and the results of it - This line creates the link with the GET var in it - print '<blockquote><a href="showaUnit.php?unitID='.$id.'">'.$theArray[$i]['title'].'Unit Id = '. $id .'</a><blockquote><i>'.$theArray[$i]['desc'].'</i> </blockquote></blockquote>'; This is the resultant URL which appears when I click the link above http://127.0.0.1/ieee1484/IEEE1484/UnitofLearning/showaUnit.php?unitID=1 and when I use the following code in the form print ("Unit ID = "); print $unitID; I get the result displayed as - Unit ID = Which would hopefully display Unit ID = 1 for the case above. This could be a settings file change or something more major but I would appreciate any help. Apologies if this is not the right place to post this but I am getting a bit desperate if this is the wrong place please tell me the more appropriate one. Eamon