Re: Brand spankin' new.
1) To create a PHP/MySQL website you need some sort of webserver, this isn't a physical machine but a server program normally Apache but could be IIS (and there are others).
2) You can install Apache, PHP and MySQL on your XP machine, the install for each is fairly easy but getting Apache hooked up to PHP can be difficult if you don't know what you're doing. But there are plenty of web sites dedicated to the subject. But note this won't be available on the web, thats a whole lot more complicated, the best thing is to sign up with a hosting company.
3) There are plenty on the web, or some of the quick start/dummy style books are pretty good.
4) Not sure what you mean on this one.
Andrew Gilfrin
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http://www.mysqldevelopment.com
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