smtp problem

[dre31ex]

hey guys i am trying to send email using php mailer but the problem i think i have is the smtp whenever i changed in php.ini is not updated in the phpinfo (it still shows localhost) so i assume that i would have a problem connecting to a host and hence the error.SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host.can you help me find the error and possible reasons why aint the smtp being changed whereas the smtp_port can be changed..and one more thing ive already tried doing it with mail servers and i also had a lot of trouble installing pear so i just want to make this work.(i tried smtp.mail.yahoo.com, smtp.gmail.com, own mailserver) no change, still localhost.and i also restart everytime i made the change.its my 3rd day diagnosing the problem for a simple email (which was easier in asp.net)..any info you need just let me know. thanks in advance

[diafol]

You need to run a smtp server off your machine to send email. XAMPP comes with Mercury Mail. Other downloadable ones: Pegasus.

This is prob. the best way.

I think you can also send via your ISP/website, BUT I think it must be configured to allow unauthenticated mail requests from your server.

[dre31ex]

i also tried using those kind of servers. the one i tried got no errors but no email was sent. this is when i turned off the authentication..i used hmailserver and sendmail.