You may want to try installing Linux in VMWare. It will be a very good platform to learn PHP and mySQL.
I have answered this question maybe 15 times. I will do it again.
Download XAMPP ( apache for friends ). This is a complete solution for php / mysql / apache web server.
Start developing a small address book, with names and telephone numbers. Create an admin section too. This is also called control panel.
Once you create this simple address book add sessions, so that once you are idle for about 5 min you have to log in again to view data. Make it more authentic by adding validation etc.
Hope this helps.
for tutorials log on to
Assuming you are using a Windows based PC, you should download WAMP (Windows Apache MySQL PHP) package.
It will install everything for you and create an environment for you to begin learning to develop in. See my sources for a link to download the package.
This is the easiest and most powerful way to begin.
if you want to learn or practice PHP and MySQL try ti visit. we always used this site during my college programming days. trust me it really helps.