unix problems

hi, i'm a new unix user. i've installed php on windows no problem. anybody know why this is happening: when i'm in a command window, it will not list anything starting with php. so, if there is a php4.0.0.1 directory on a disk, it will not show up in the command window with the ls or the dir function, but the gnome windows environment does recogize it, and i can cd to the php directory. same if i do mkdir php. won't ls in the command window but i can path into it. i ask this because i also cannot get php to work properly. i've tried everything including all the httpd.conf settings. i'm at a complete loss. so, i was wondering if this 'not recognizing' php names has anything to do with it. i'm sure this is an idiotic question, but i'm fed up. thanks for any help. rg