Compile php + imap on w2k

Hi, I have searched the archives and the answer must be there. I've heard that uncomment the imap extension line in php.ini could do the trick, but not for me. I want to use the imap functions. Now they say you have to compile it, so I downloaded the imap files and MS Visual C++ 6. I have no experience with how to compile stuff or writing stuff in C++. Do I need to make a complete new php installation from the php source + library source or well... Can anyone help me with this.. Does anyone know a tutorial which takes it from the basics on this.. I already tried a pre-compiled version of php-apache-mysql from php-dev but I don't like that... Maarten ps. I'm running php 4.3.1 / apache 2 / w2k