title: PEAR on Windows: How to change pear.ini location
body: <p>I am trying to install a PEAR package into my recent XAMPP PHP installation (PHP 5.3.1) on Windows 7 64-bit.</p>
  
  <p>Installing new packages fails because PEAR tries to access <code>c:\windows\pear.ini</code> instead of the existing <code>c:\path_to_xampp\php\pear.ini</code>. This results (rightly) in a <code>permission denied</code> error. I am logged on as Administrator, but the Windows directory enjoys some additional protection IIRC.</p>
  
  <p>Rather than fiddle with write rights in the windows directory, I would like to use the existing pear.ini file.</p>
  
  <p>Does anybody know where to change PEAR's behaviour accordingly?</p>