include_path

I've set up Apache and PHP (latest ver) on my Windows98 machine. I've set up a virtual host (c:\path\to\apache\htdocs\virtual_host) and I have all my include files here: (c:\path\to\apache\htdocs\include_dir) In my php.ini, which resides in my windows directory, I've set the include path to be: .; c:\path\to\apache\htdocs\virtual_host\include_dir; c:\path\to\apache\htdocs\include_dir (all of the above is on one line, broke it up for this email) However, whenever I run a file that includes another file, regardless of where that file resides, I always get an error. As part of the error, it says that the only path for the include is '.' (dot). Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to set up the include directory somewhere else? I've read the docs and search the archives at phpbuilder (perhaps I'm searching for the wrong thing), but I haven't been able to find any info. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! thnx, Chris