I'm using Apache 1.3.12/Windows 98/PHP 4.0 release without Zend optimizer.

Session variables do not retain their values between page accesses when track_vars = On and register_globals = Off in php.ini.  If track_vars is turned off OR register_globals is turned on, sessions work correctly.  Here's a sample script:

<?
	session_start();
	session_register('counter');

	$counter++;

	echo "<p>You've been here $counter times.</p>";
?>

If track_vars = On and register_globals = Off, the script displays "You've been here 1 times" each time it is run.

It appears that the session data file (sess_*) that corresponds with the current session is not written to or read from.

If track_vars = Off and register_globals = On, (or if track_vars = On and register_globals = On) the script runs correctly and displays increments the counter each time it is run.

Workaround: Make sure that register_globals is turned on in php.ini.