First of all, we need to know if you are on a shared hosting environment or a dedicated server.

If it is the latter case, then you will need to edit php.ini file. The file stays where it is and no permission change needed. Of course, you must be a superuser to edit the file.

Find
register_globals
allow_url_fopen
make changes to the settings, restart apache/php. You can use pico to edit the file.

If you are on a shared hosting, forget the php.ini file, you can't make changes to it, only server admin can do that.

You must use .htaccess to change settings.

Using Micro$oft notepad: open the notepad and enter the line
php_flag register_globals off
the save the file (select text file format) - just type .htaccess

Or copy one of .htaccess files came with GIJOE's protector package, clear the contents and add the line
php_flag register_globals off
save the file and upload to your root directory. This will take care of register_globals

allow_url_fopen has to be done by server admin and you will have to ask your host for the change. They may well not do it because other users are using it.