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PART I: Downloading and Installing XAMPP

1. Downloading XAMPP for Windows:

Before you go and rush into installing Joomla! There are several things you need to get ready first. If you want to install it locally (what is also referred to as localhost) on your PC or portable, you need to download and install some software that will allow your computer to behave as a web server.

The easiest thing to do here is to download the latest version of XAMPP for Windows. This tutorial is oriented towards Windows users (screen shots are from Windows XP.) For a Linux Tutorial please click here.

The latest version of XAMPP for Windows can be downloaded here. As we write this, the latest version is 1.7.3. We recommend you download the .exe file, not the .zip compressed file, since that one sometimes gives false warnings about viruses (in Windows, obviously.)

2. Installing XAMPP on Windows:

When you download the file it will look like this on your desktop:

xampp installer

When you double click on it, you will get the following window, click on Run:

xampp security warning

Next you need to decide where to to install XAMPP, we recommend to install it in the root of your hard drive, not under “Program Files”.

Just select the correct drive letter for your computer configuration where it says “Destination folder”. In this case we will select “>C:\”

Click on Install. The program will create a folder called XAMPP on your hard drive and extract and install everything it needs. You can see the progress bar change as it is doing it.

xampp installer

When it is done, a small window will pop-up that will look like this:

xampp add shortcut

Now the program will ask you some questions and suggest an answer, so basically just press the “Enter” key accepting what the program is suggesting, do not change anything unless you know exactly what you are doing. When it is done, it will display the following:

xampp ready

So just go ahead and press “Enter” twice and you will get the following screen:

xampp cpanel

Now you need to press the number “1” to select the first option and press “Enter”. This window will pop-up, the XAMPP control panel:

xampp cpanel

You still have the black window open, so to close it just press “ X” and “Enter”. Now going back to the XAMPP control panel that just opened up, you need to activate some of the modules shown there. Specifically for Joomla! you need:

• Apache,
• MySQL,

Regarding the other modules:

• FileZilla, this is not really necessary in Windows.
• Mercury, only if you are going to test sending e-mails (check the documentation for this.)
• Tomcat, you definitely do not need this for Joomla!

To activate those options (the other options can be activated as well but they go beyond the scope of this little tutorial) just click where it says “Start”. If you get any annoying security alerts like this one:

xampp security alert

Just make sure you click on “Unblock”. When the modules are active the Control Panel will look like this:

xampp cpanel running

Click on “Exit” if everything looks fine (if it doesn't, run away from the computer! Just kidding! LOL!)

XAMPP Control Panel will always be accessible from your desktop by using the shortcut there. If the shortcut is no longer there or did not get created, you can always create one! For example, if you installed XAMPP in your hard drive C, go and locate the folder (you can use the windows Explorer, quick strokes: press the key + “E” key.) Open the XAMPP folder and look for the file “xampp-control.exe” Right click on the file and then select the option “Create shortcut”. Finally, drag and drop the shortcut to your desktop, and presto!

Now, every time you fire up your computer and want to use your Joomla! site (that we will install after we are done with this) you need to have XAMPP running. So you need to use the shortcut to call the Control Panel and activate the modules like we did before.

Every time? Can't Windows do it for me?, you'll ask. Of course! Windows can do it automatically for you! BUT! (There is always a “but”, right?) If your computer is a little short of RAM memory or a bit slow... Let's say you were recommended not to install Windows 7 on it... then you might want to consider doing it manually. The other thing is that, depending on what you (or your children!) have installed on your computer you might have a conflict with the anti-virus, with the firewall, with X, Y or Z software on your PC (Window Vista is very good at that..)

So of course the most reasonable thing to do (if you want to be reasonable that is) is to try what works best for you. If you cannot solve the conflict, then you are better off turning XAMPP on and off manually every time you need to see your Joomla! site. Bear in mind that sometimes you might have to de-activate or turn off some other application in order to have XAMPP work correctly.

OK, so to have Windows turn on XAMPP automatically, you need only to put a check mark where it says “Svc” next to each module. If you have XAMPP running, first you need to stop each service by clicking on the “Stop” button, then select the “Svc”. Every time you select that option a small window will come up, similar to this one, just click “OK”:

xampp cpanel Svc

Once you have checked all the “Svc” options you wanted, do not forget to click on “Start” next to each one of them, to get them working again. Now, the next time you turn on your computer, Windows will start those services for you. ;-)

3. XAMPP for Windows basic troubleshooting:

We already mentioned the fact that if your PC is a bit, erm... “mature” shall we say? It will rum very slow if it has to load XAMPP services every time at bootup.

There is also the possibility that XAMPP might conflict with Windows Firewall and the services will not want to start. That is it will display a “busy” message or will say that it “cannot start”, if you said “yes” to the security warning so the service is not blocked, that reduces the risk of this happening. But you might also try disabling momentarily the Windows Firewall: go to control panel, locate the Windows Firewall icon ( click on “Switch to classic view” if you can't see what I am referring to) and double-click on it. On the “General” tab, select “Off” and try again.

You might also want to consider disabling momentarily your anti-virus and test if that helps XAMPP services to run properly.

Feel free to check the XAMPP FAQS for Windows here:

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faq-xampp-windows.html#xpsp2