To get information about your server, you can use the PHP Info function:
- Paste this into a new Notepad / BBEdit file
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
- Save as info.php
- Upload to server. Visit in your browser (www.example.com/info.php)
That will give you info about your php version and mod_rewrite.
The info.php file returns a page outlining the details of your PHP installation. You can see if mod_rewrite is loaded. Under the apache header, look in the Loaded Modules section and see if mod_rewiite is listed.