I tried to install the ISAPI module to Windows 2000 Professional. At first the module worked fine but then it stopped working. When I tried to start IIS, the service state just remained at "starting".

I tried several things and finally just (almost accidentally) ran php.exe. It complained that a line in php.ini was malformed, but after clicking on the dialog, it continued to run.

So, if you have a problem in the php.ini, the ISAPI module just hangs and probably waits for an OK for the dialog, which is never displayed!

I hope this will be fixed in the near future. If not, an explanation could be added to the FAQ (the documentation on Win32 platform seems to be quite limited).

Also, a hint for everyone with IIS remaining at "starting": set the WWW Publishing Service to manual and run iisreset. It will stop the IIS (net stop won't stop it in this state) and 'start it' (but because it is in manual, it won't be started). A tip I could've used two days ago.