diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-functions.php b/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
index 261540a1a3..da112378f0 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
@@ -92,7 +92,6 @@ function comments_popup_script($width=400, $height=400, $file='') {
 
 function comments_popup_link($zero='No Comments', $one='1 Comment', $more='% Comments', $CSSclass='', $none='Comments Off') {
     global $id, $wpcommentspopupfile, $wpcommentsjavascript, $post, $wpdb;
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
     global $comment_count_cache;
 
 	if (! is_single() && ! is_page()) {
@@ -113,7 +112,7 @@ function comments_popup_link($zero='No Comments', $one='1 Comment', $more='% Com
         }
         echo '<a href="';
         if ($wpcommentsjavascript) {
-            echo get_settings('siteurl') . '/' . $wpcommentspopupfile.$querystring_start.'p'.$querystring_equal.$id.$querystring_separator.'c'.$querystring_equal.'1';
+            echo get_settings('siteurl') . '/' . $wpcommentspopupfile.'?p='.$id.'amp;c=1';
             //echo get_permalink();
             echo '" onclick="wpopen(this.href); return false"';
         } else {
@@ -635,7 +634,6 @@ function wp_get_comment_status($comment_id) {
 if ( ! function_exists('wp_notify_postauthor') ) {
 function wp_notify_postauthor($comment_id, $comment_type='') {
     global $wpdb;
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
     
     $comment = $wpdb->get_row("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_ID='$comment_id' LIMIT 1");
     $post = $wpdb->get_row("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE ID='$comment->comment_post_ID' LIMIT 1");
diff --git a/wp-includes/feed-functions.php b/wp-includes/feed-functions.php
index 8f144c25f8..6e1992b2c6 100644
--- a/wp-includes/feed-functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/feed-functions.php
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ function comments_rss_link($link_text = 'Comments RSS', $commentsrssfilename = '
 
 function comments_rss($commentsrssfilename = 'wp-commentsrss2.php') {
 	global $id;
-	global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
 
 	if ('' != get_settings('permalink_structure'))
 		$url = trailingslashit( get_permalink() ) . 'feed/';
@@ -87,13 +86,12 @@ function comments_rss($commentsrssfilename = 'wp-commentsrss2.php') {
 }
 
 function get_author_rss_link($echo = false, $author_id, $author_nicename) {
-       global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal;
        $auth_ID = $author_id;
        $permalink_structure = get_settings('permalink_structure');
 
        if ('' == $permalink_structure) {
            $file = get_settings('siteurl') . '/wp-rss2.php';
-           $link = $file . $querystring_start . 'author' . $querystring_equal . $author_id;
+           $link = $file . '?author=' . $author_id;
        } else {
            $link = get_author_link(0, $author_id, $author_nicename);
            $link = $link . "feed/";
@@ -104,13 +102,12 @@ function get_author_rss_link($echo = false, $author_id, $author_nicename) {
 }
 
 function get_category_rss_link($echo = false, $category_id, $category_nicename) {
-       global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal;
        $cat_ID = $category_id;
        $permalink_structure = get_settings('permalink_structure');
 
        if ('' == $permalink_structure) {
                $file = get_settings('siteurl') . '/wp-rss2.php';
-        $link = $file . $querystring_start . 'cat' . $querystring_equal . $category_id;
+        $link = $file . '?cat=' . $category_id;
        } else {
         $link = get_category_link(0, $category_id, $category_nicename);
                $link = $link . "feed/";
diff --git a/wp-includes/template-functions-author.php b/wp-includes/template-functions-author.php
index ccf61de878..ba9c2c82e5 100644
--- a/wp-includes/template-functions-author.php
+++ b/wp-includes/template-functions-author.php
@@ -123,13 +123,13 @@ function the_author_posts_link($idmode='') {
 
 
 function get_author_link($echo = false, $author_id, $author_nicename) {
-	global $wpdb, $wp_rewrite, $post, $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $cache_userdata;
+	global $wpdb, $wp_rewrite, $post, $cache_userdata;
     $auth_ID = $author_id;
     $link = $wp_rewrite->get_author_permastruct();
     
     if (empty($link)) {
         $file = get_settings('home') . '/';
-        $link = $file.$querystring_start.'author'.$querystring_equal.$auth_ID;
+        $link = $file . '?author=' . .$auth_ID;
     } else {
         if ('' == $author_nicename) $author_nicename = $cache_userdata[$author_id]->author_nicename;
 				$link = str_replace('%author%', $author_nicename, $link);
diff --git a/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php b/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php
index 6d5f91406a..390410823c 100644
--- a/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php
+++ b/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php
@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@ function get_the_category($id = false) {
 }
 
 function get_category_link($echo = false, $category_id, $category_nicename) {
-	global $wpdb, $wp_rewrite, $post, $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $cache_categories;
+	global $wpdb, $wp_rewrite, $post, $cache_categories;
     $cat_ID = $category_id;
     $catlink = $wp_rewrite->get_category_permastruct();
     
     if (empty($catlink)) {
         $file = get_settings('home') . '/';
-        $catlink = $file.$querystring_start.'cat'.$querystring_equal.$cat_ID;
+        $catlink = $file . '?cat=' . $cat_ID;
     } else {
 			$category_nicename = $cache_categories[$category_id]->category_nicename;
 			if ($parent=$cache_categories[$category_id]->category_parent) $category_nicename = get_category_parents($parent, FALSE, '/', TRUE) . $category_nicename . '/';
@@ -182,7 +182,6 @@ function dropdown_cats($optionall = 1, $all = 'All', $sort_column = 'ID', $sort_
         $optiondates = 0, $optioncount = 0, $hide_empty = 1, $optionnone=FALSE,
         $selected=0, $hide=0) {
     global $wpdb;
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
     if (($file == 'blah') || ($file == '')) $file = get_settings('home') . '/';
     if (!$selected) $selected=$cat;
     $sort_column = 'cat_'.$sort_column;
@@ -253,7 +252,6 @@ function wp_list_cats($args = '') {
 
 function list_cats($optionall = 1, $all = 'All', $sort_column = 'ID', $sort_order = 'asc', $file = '', $list = true, $optiondates = 0, $optioncount = 0, $hide_empty = 1, $use_desc_for_title = 1, $children=FALSE, $child_of=0, $categories=0, $recurse=0, $feed = '', $feed_image = '', $exclude = '', $hierarchical=FALSE) {
 	global $wpdb, $category_posts;
-	global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
 	// Optiondates now works
 	if ('' == $file) {
 		$file = get_settings('home') . '/';
@@ -308,16 +306,6 @@ function list_cats($optionall = 1, $all = 'All', $sort_column = 'ID', $sort_orde
 		}
 	}
 	
-	if (intval($optionall) == 1 && !$child_of && $categories) {
-		$all = apply_filters('list_cats', $all);
-		$link = "<a href=\"".$file.$querystring_start.'cat'.$querystring_equal.'all">'.$all."</a>";
-		if ($list) {
-			echo "\n\t<li>$link</li>";
-		} else {
-			echo "\t$link<br />\n";
-		}
-	}
-	
 	$num_found=0;
 	$thelist = "";
 	
diff --git a/wp-includes/template-functions-general.php b/wp-includes/template-functions-general.php
index c0d572f4b0..69145ba619 100644
--- a/wp-includes/template-functions-general.php
+++ b/wp-includes/template-functions-general.php
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ function wp_get_archives($args = '') {
 }
 
 function get_archives($type='', $limit='', $format='html', $before = '', $after = '', $show_post_count = false) {
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator, $month, $wpdb;
+    global $month, $wpdb;
 
     if ('' == $type) {
         $type = 'monthly';
@@ -276,9 +276,9 @@ function get_archives($type='', $limit='', $format='html', $before = '', $after
     $archive_week_separator = '&#8211;';
 
     // archive link url
-    $archive_link_m = get_settings('siteurl').'/'.$querystring_start.'m'.$querystring_equal;    # monthly archive;
-    $archive_link_w = get_settings('siteurl').'/'.$querystring_start.'w'.$querystring_equal;    # weekly archive;
-    $archive_link_p = get_settings('siteurl').'/'.$querystring_start.'p'.$querystring_equal;    # post-by-post archive;
+    $archive_link_m = get_settings('siteurl') . '/?m=';    # monthly archive;
+    $archive_link_w = get_settings('siteurl') . '/?w=';    # weekly archive;
+    $archive_link_p = get_settings('siteurl') . '/?p=';    # post-by-post archive;
 
     // over-ride general date format ? 0 = no: use the date format set in Options, 1 = yes: over-ride
     $archive_date_format_over_ride = 0;
@@ -338,9 +338,9 @@ function get_archives($type='', $limit='', $format='html', $before = '', $after
                     $arc_week = get_weekstartend($arcresult->yyyymmdd, get_settings('start_of_week'));
                     $arc_week_start = date_i18n($archive_week_start_date_format, $arc_week['start']);
                     $arc_week_end = date_i18n($archive_week_end_date_format, $arc_week['end']);
-                    $url  = sprintf('%s/%s%sm%s%s%sw%s%d', get_settings('home'), '', $querystring_start,
-                                    $querystring_equal, $arc_year, $querystring_separator,
-                                    $querystring_equal, $arcresult->week);
+                    $url  = sprintf('%s/%s%sm%s%s%sw%s%d', get_settings('home'), '', '?',
+                                    '=', $arc_year, '&amp;',
+                                    '=', $arcresult->week);
                     $text = $arc_week_start . $archive_week_separator . $arc_week_end;
                     echo get_archives_link($url, $text, $format, $before, $after);
                 }
diff --git a/wp-includes/template-functions-links.php b/wp-includes/template-functions-links.php
index 923a3af25a..ebd2ea36e5 100644
--- a/wp-includes/template-functions-links.php
+++ b/wp-includes/template-functions-links.php
@@ -102,19 +102,19 @@ function get_page_link($id = false) {
 }
 
 function get_year_link($year) {
-	global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $wp_rewrite;
+	global $wp_rewrite;
     if (!$year) $year = gmdate('Y', time()+(get_settings('gmt_offset') * 3600));
 		$yearlink = $wp_rewrite->get_year_permastruct();
     if (!empty($yearlink)) {
         $yearlink = str_replace('%year%', $year, $yearlink);
         return apply_filters('year_link', get_settings('home') . trailingslashit($yearlink), $year);
     } else {
-        return apply_filters('year_link', get_settings('home') .'/'. $querystring_start.'m'.$querystring_equal.$year, $year);
+        return apply_filters('year_link', get_settings('home') . '/?m=' . $year, $year);
     }
 }
 
 function get_month_link($year, $month) {
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $wp_rewrite;
+    global $wp_rewrite;
     if (!$year) $year = gmdate('Y', time()+(get_settings('gmt_offset') * 3600));
     if (!$month) $month = gmdate('m', time()+(get_settings('gmt_offset') * 3600));
 		$monthlink = $wp_rewrite->get_month_permastruct();
@@ -123,12 +123,12 @@ function get_month_link($year, $month) {
         $monthlink = str_replace('%monthnum%', zeroise(intval($month), 2), $monthlink);
         return apply_filters('month_link', get_settings('home') . trailingslashit($monthlink), $year, $month);
     } else {
-        return apply_filters('month_link', get_settings('home') .'/'. $querystring_start.'m'.$querystring_equal.$year.zeroise($month, 2), $year, $month);
+        return apply_filters('month_link', get_settings('home') . '/?m=' . $year . zeroise($month, 2), $year, $month);
     }
 }
 
 function get_day_link($year, $month, $day) {
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $wp_rewrite;
+    global $wp_rewrite;
     if (!$year) $year = gmdate('Y', time()+(get_settings('gmt_offset') * 3600));
     if (!$month) $month = gmdate('m', time()+(get_settings('gmt_offset') * 3600));
     if (!$day) $day = gmdate('j', time()+(get_settings('gmt_offset') * 3600));
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ function get_day_link($year, $month, $day) {
         $daylink = str_replace('%day%', zeroise(intval($day), 2), $daylink);
         return apply_filters('day_link', get_settings('home') . trailingslashit($daylink), $year, $month, $day);
     } else {
-        return apply_filters('day_link', get_settings('home') .'/'. $querystring_start.'m'.$querystring_equal.$year.zeroise($month, 2).zeroise($day, 2), $year, $month, $day);
+        return apply_filters('day_link', get_settings('home') . '/?m=' . $year . zeroise($month, 2) . zeroise($day, 2), $year, $month, $day);
     }
 }
 
@@ -300,7 +300,6 @@ function next_post_link($format='%link &raquo;', $link='%title', $in_same_cat =
 function previous_post($format='%', $previous='previous post: ', $title='yes', $in_same_cat='no', $limitprev=1, $excluded_categories='') {
     global $id, $post, $wpdb;
     global $posts, $posts_per_page, $s;
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
 
     if(($posts_per_page == 1) || is_single()) {
 
@@ -403,11 +402,10 @@ function get_pagenum_link($pagenum = 1){
    // lets see what sort of URL we have...
    } else {
       // we need to know the way queries are being written
-      global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
       // if there's a querystring_start (a "?" usually), it's deffinitely not mod_rewritten
-      if ( stristr( $qstr, $querystring_start ) ){
+      if ( stristr( $qstr, '?' ) ){
          // so append the query string (using &, since we already have ?)
-         $qstr .=  $querystring_separator.$page_querystring.$querystring_equal.$pagenum;
+         $qstr .=  '&amp;' . $page_querystring . '=' . $pagenum;
          // otherwise, it could be rewritten, OR just the default index ...
       } elseif( '' != get_settings('permalink_structure')) {
          $permalink = 1;
@@ -425,7 +423,7 @@ function get_pagenum_link($pagenum = 1){
 
 	 $qstr =  trailingslashit($qstr) . $page_modstring . $pagenum;
       } else {
-         $qstr = $index . $querystring_start.$page_querystring.$querystring_equal.$pagenum;
+         $qstr = $index . '?' . $page_querystring . '=' . $pagenum;
       }
    }
 
@@ -436,7 +434,6 @@ function get_pagenum_link($pagenum = 1){
 
 function next_posts($max_page = 0) { // original by cfactor at cooltux.org
     global $paged, $pagenow;
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
 
      if (! is_single()) {
          if (!$paged) $paged = 1;
@@ -468,7 +465,6 @@ function next_posts_link($label='Next Page &raquo;', $max_page=0) {
 
 function previous_posts() { // original by cfactor at cooltux.org
     global $_SERVER, $paged, $pagenow;
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
 
      if (! is_single()) {
          $nextpage = intval($paged) - 1;
diff --git a/wp-includes/template-functions-post.php b/wp-includes/template-functions-post.php
index 01b781fb84..f4a4d10c48 100644
--- a/wp-includes/template-functions-post.php
+++ b/wp-includes/template-functions-post.php
@@ -170,7 +170,6 @@ function wp_link_pages($args = '') {
 function link_pages($before='<br />', $after='<br />', $next_or_number='number', $nextpagelink='next page', $previouspagelink='previous page', $pagelink='%', $more_file='') {
     global $id, $page, $numpages, $multipage, $more;
     global $pagenow;
-    global $querystring_start, $querystring_equal, $querystring_separator;
     if ($more_file != '') {
         $file = $more_file;
     } else {
@@ -184,9 +183,9 @@ function link_pages($before='<br />', $after='<br />', $next_or_number='number',
                 echo ' ';
                 if (($i != $page) || ((!$more) && ($page==1))) {
                     if ('' == get_settings('permalink_structure')) {
-                        echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().$querystring_separator.'page'.$querystring_equal.$i.'">';
+                        echo '<a href="' . get_permalink() . '&amp;page=' . $i . '">';
                     } else {
-                        echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().$i.'/">';
+                        echo '<a href="' . get_permalink() . $i . '/">';
                     }
                 }
                 echo $j;
@@ -200,15 +199,15 @@ function link_pages($before='<br />', $after='<br />', $next_or_number='number',
                 $i=$page-1;
                 if ($i && $more) {
                     if ('' == get_settings('permalink_structure')) {
-                        echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().$querystring_separator.'page'.$querystring_equal.$i.'">'.$previouspagelink.'</a>';
+                        echo '<a href="' . get_permalink() '&amp;page=' . $i . '">'.$previouspagelink.'</a>';
                     } else {
-                        echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().$i.'/">'.$previouspagelink.'</a>';
+                        echo '<a href="' . get_permalink() . $i . '/">'.$previouspagelink.'</a>';
                     }
                 }
                 $i=$page+1;
                 if ($i<=$numpages && $more) {
                     if ('' == get_settings('permalink_structure')) {
-                        echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().$querystring_separator.'page'.$querystring_equal.$i.'">'.$nextpagelink.'</a>';
+                        echo '<a href="'.get_permalink() . '&amp;page=' . $i . '">'.$nextpagelink.'</a>';
                     } else {
                         echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().$i.'/">'.$nextpagelink.'</a>';
                     }
diff --git a/wp-includes/vars.php b/wp-includes/vars.php
index 97ea2724cb..1619576bbb 100644
--- a/wp-includes/vars.php
+++ b/wp-includes/vars.php
@@ -9,9 +9,6 @@ if (preg_match('#([^/]+.php)#', $PHP_SELF, $self_matches)) {
 	$pagenow = trim($pagenow[(sizeof($pagenow)-1)]);
 	$pagenow = explode('?', $pagenow);
 	$pagenow = $pagenow[0];
-	if (($querystring_start == '/') && ($pagenow != 'post.php')) {
-		$pagenow = get_settings('siteurl') . '/';
-	}
 } else {
 	$pagenow = 'index.php';
 }
diff --git a/wp-settings.php b/wp-settings.php
index aa351ed51f..c1309e5df0 100644
--- a/wp-settings.php
+++ b/wp-settings.php
@@ -88,9 +88,6 @@ require (ABSPATH . WPINC . '/kses.php');
 require (ABSPATH . WPINC . '/version.php');
 
 if (!strstr($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], 'install.php') && !strstr($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], 'wp-admin/import')) :
-    $querystring_start = '?';
-    $querystring_equal = '=';
-    $querystring_separator = '&amp;';
 
     // Used to guarantee unique hash cookies
     $cookiehash = md5(get_settings('siteurl')); // Remove in 1.4