I choose SMTP, but get mail() error

[eluser]novice32[/eluser]
I have the same problem:

I used to be able to send emails, but now I get the following:
Message: mail() [function.mail]: Failed to connect to mailserver at "localhost" port 25, verify your "SMTP" and "smtp_port" setting in php.ini or use ini_set() Filename: libraries/Email.php. Yet I have

Code:

$config['email']['smtp_host'] = 'smtp.comcast.net';

in my email.php and also commented out in my php.ini the SMTP section and restarted the server (no values were really set). Emails now work ONLY if I use

Code:

ini_set('SMTP', 'smtp.comcast.net');

I'm developing on XAMPP.