Does it really not give the first four digits? If so, the code may be depending on
register global variables being
on to move information from the form to the processing page. Go to the "PHP & MySQL" board and read my topic on dealing with register globals (you'll have to turn them back on in
.htaccess). By the way, the latest osCommerce (2.2 Release Candidate 2a) no longer requires register globals to be on.
If that doesn't do the trick, maybe Javascript is shut off on your father's browser? I think it needs to be "on" in order to use osCommerce (which has a fair amount of JS in use). If that's it, consider adding
<noscript><p>You need Javascript to be "on" to use all the functions in osCommerce.</p></noscript>
near the top of the index.php page. If he's using Internet Explorer, I think "Internet" sites (not in the trusted category) are denied use of JS by default.