Smtp Settings PHP.ini does not seem to listen.

I have been trying to set my SMTP server so I can test out scripts in which sending email is involved.As I mentioned in another topic, i am using EasyPHP 1.8, a combined package of Apache server, PHP 4 and MySQL.When executing a script on my local machine, a script that normally works online tells me I have a 530 error and I need to authenticate.So, I looked things up in the PHP manual where I found to go to the php.ini file and find [mail function], and underneath that, to set your SMTP server to the one of your own ISP.Furthermore, it told me to set sendmail_from to the email address you want to send from.I did all that, but after restarting the Apache server, and even after re-booting the machine, i still get the same error, and when I look in phpinfo(), my SMTP server still appears at localhost, while my email address still appears as root@localhost.Yet, in the php.ini file, the values are retained as the ones I set them to.Does anyone know why this is happening?BTW I use EasyPHP in order to avoid having to upload all the time and to be able to test scripts and do exercises on my own machine.Thanks in advance for any help.

You will need to run a phpinfo() to find out the exact path to your ini file.
If easyphp is like WAMP ad XAMPP, there are several places where they stash spare copies and sample ini files, so do the phpinfo(),
(I'll post some code for you in a minute), and travel the path to find the right one.

results for the php.ini are the 7th line down in the phpinfo()

Put this code in a file in your server path, like htdocs folder, and browse to it.

<?phpphpinfo();?>