Install problems .profile and include_path

I'm running php/pear in my own directory while my host has their own running and I've been having some difficultly getting mine set up properly. The first issue is with the include_path. I've installed my own php.ini in my base dir and have overwritten all the php.ini of my host's ini file. I've manually changed the php.ini in my file to reflect the include_path needed in order for pear to work properly. In this case: include_path = ".:/rc13/d92/benefit/pear/lib/php" ; However, when I check my own phpinfo, it still points to the hosts: .:/usr/local/php4/lib/php My include path should have overwritten theirs but has not. Is my syntax correct? Do I have to do something more? The second issue stems from editing the .profile to point my PEAR command in /bin/pear. Currently, when I type in pear from the command line I get this: PHP Fatal error: Call to undefined function: getoptions() in /usr/local/php4/bin/pear on line 34 This obviously points to my host. Yet when I type in: /rc13/d92/benefit/pear/bin/pear, it reads out my options/commands as expected. In order to effectively change the PATH, I was told I have to open up the .profile and include this: export PATH=/rc13/d92/benefit/pear/bin:$PATH Yet when I type in pear from the CL, I still receive my host. I'm stumped as to why. Any advice on how to fix these very noob install problems? Cheers, lincoln