I don’t see the connection between missing URL segment support and .htaccess, but even so: You probably only need to use query strings. From the docs:
Some web servers — typically Windows-based servers — still have difficulty with the default ExpressionEngine setup that doesn’t use query strings. In cases like this, you can tell the system to “Force URL Query Strings” (see Admin > Output and Debugging Preferences in the Control Panel).
With this option enabled, the URLs output by ExpressionEngine are slightly different, but still far more readable and search engine-friendly than a typical dynamic system might output. With “Force URL Query Strings” turned on, an ExpressionEngine URL might look like this:
<a href="http://www.example.com/index.php?/site/archives/">http://www.example.com/index.php?/site/archives/</a>
You’ll notice that it is almost identical to the regular setting, only with the addition of the question mark.
In a select few cases, turning on “Force URL Query Strings” by itself won’t be enough. If URLs continue to not work even with that setting on, then you can open your main site index.php file. Toward the top you will see a $qtype variable with three possible settings. Try setting the variable to “2” (or possibly “1”).