how do you really remove index.php

[eluser]bpdp[/eluser]
http://localhost/freelance/ps/index.php/home/
works with or without the .htaccess file

with .htaccess
http://localhost/freelance/ps/home/
throws a 404 (The requested URL /index.php/home was not found on this server.)

without .htaccess
http://localhost/freelance/ps/home
throws a 404 (The requested URL /freelance/ps/home was not found on this server.)

http://localhost/freelance/ps/index.php and http://localhost/freelance/ps/ both seem to work and are pointing to my default controller.