PHP and Java: accessing Java classes from PHP

Hi I need to access some custom and native Java classes from php. I've tried the steps form php manual and php-javabridge from sf but I always get an apache crash. I don't need to run servlets and it's impossible to start servlet engine in the server (project requirements). The tutorials i've found are outdated (old php-javabridge versions) and refer to some files that no longer exists. If someone can point the right direction I would like to see the solution. I'm using win xp pro sp2, php 5.2.3, java 1.6.0_02. Thanks in advance. Greets holo