One for the Gurus.

I am using a laptop unfortunately running ME on which I was hoping to
develop php scripts (411) however I have hit some difficulties!

A simple test file duplicated in 2 directories, behaving differently!
A simple test file with
<?php
echo 'hi how are you';
?>
and nothing else
is placed in two sub-directories of the MyWebs folder. The MyWebs folder
has been set as localhost and Document root.
It works in one as expected but not in the other, any ideas.

I have not mapped either directory specifically anywhere and in this
instance the files are not directly below localhost
they are htp://localhost/dir1/myfiles.bla
and
htp://localhost/dir2/myfiles.bla

httpd.conf is exactly as per install with the exception of the change to
documentroot:

# DocumentRoot: The directory out of which you will serve your
# documents. By default, all requests are taken from this directory, but
# symbolic links and aliases may be used to point to other locations.
#
DocumentRoot "C:/My Documents/My Webs"

#
# This should be changed to whatever you set DocumentRoot to.
#
<Directory "C:/My Documents/My Webs">

Folder properties are exactly the same on both!
Neither are shared!

If using the ME file explore;
When looking on the file from listing in http://localhost/dir1
it shows the link in purple as though visited and opens correctly in the
right hand browse window.
When looking at the link in http://localhost/dir2
it shows the link in green and opens a second internet explorer page. if
I include the file name it displays and works normally opening the file
in the right hand window.

If I use IE to start navigating from the localhost both directories works
normally.

The reason for this test file in the first place is that php, echo and
print, is not working as expected in files from the dir2 there is no
output!

Anyone please!!

If I am understanding you correctly, you are using 'Windows Explorer' to view your web pages? I know that it sorta of uses IE when you look at internet type content, but I have never felt the urge to do this. What could be happening is that Windows Explorer views each folder a different way. It has a wacky method of storing viewing preferences on a per directory basis.

Do both files, in both dirs, work the same and as expected if viewed through IE? If so, then you can really count out that there is a problem with your PHP or apache installation...

Andy...I'm calling you.

Sorry Matt,
Setting up some other business things and have had no time since I made the posting.
OK let me explain I was not really using 'windows explorer' to view the pages but simply for file management. I was looking to solve another more important problem where php scripts were not running in one directory, and kind of stumbled across the anomoly, but it did make me wonder if this phenomonon was perhaps the cause of my problem.
However a strange thing has happened, on returning to the problem, it has gone away. Oh so windows of it. I have no explanation as far as I am aware nothing has changed in the directory structures, attributes, or the way that 'Windows explorer' is displaying them. But things are now working as they should.
The green links were a red-herring as 'windows explorer' seems to pick up the style sheet when having navigated to a directory with a css file in it, and display according to the parameteres therein.
At least that problem has gone away, but now I have another no doubt much more mundane newbie scripting problem, which I will post in another thread.
Once again sorry about the delay but I do appreciate your response.

No worries about the delay....

I love what you said, "Oh so windows of it." I may have to quote you on it in the future