Why does php add backslashes to special chars?

So if i posted some special chars through html to a php script like,

Quote:

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'@'#

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and echo it out i get an output of

Quote:

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\'@\'#

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What do i need to change in php.ini or what code can i add to the php to stop this?

I have php ver 5.2.8.

you could use stripslashes(), but magic_quotes_gpc is the directive you're looking for in the configuration file.