XAMPP: Couldn't start Apache (Windows 10)

Question

I\'m using XAMPP, and I can start Apache, but, MySQL (phpMyAdmin) start!

When I start, I get this error;

10:07         


        

Answer 1

I got same problem, but the previous solutions leads us to change the port instead of getting the exact solution. I've searched about the ports of simple HTTP & HTTPS Protocols and found.

If another application is already running, the HTTP or HTTPS ports on the local machine, we'll get this problem obviously just because of those ports already in use and in a busy state.

That's why after changing the port number it was working. But instead of changing the port in the XAMPP server, I've used the following methods and it works for me.

Here's the following step which I've got during this fix up.

1. Error which I got in XAMPP Server application.

2. At the top corner there's a button named Netstat. It's very useful for looking up the running ports on the system.

3. This is the Netstat application where I found an application already running and using the port number 443. In my case, it was vmware-hostd.exe. Your might be a different application. Try to search for port 80 (HTTP) or port 443 (HTTPS).

4. I just opened the Windows Task Manager, selected that application vmware-hostd.exe, and killed the process by using the End Process button. I've killed that process which was used port 443. And this application wasn't needed at the moment.

5. After killing the application in Windows Task Manager, Apache is now available at the moment. Here's the proof.

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NOTE: *If you found any kind of application which is used the HTTP or HTTPS ports means port 80 or port 443 and the application isn't important or not vital then only kill the process of that application.

Otherwise, there isn't any need to follow these steps. Then you need to consider to change the port of your XAMPP application as stated in the previous answers.*

Answer 2

If you have installed SQL Server, some of its services may block the port which XAMPP needs. I solved my problem by disabling SQL Server Reporting Services and now Apache starts without any problems.

Just open the services.msc, scroll down, and find SQL Server Reporting Services. Right click on it and click Stop.

Answer 3

This advice was great. I had the same problem, but my solution was different, because I was so stupid, that I have renamed directory where XAMPP was located and since I had installed a lot of another programs I couldn't rename it back.

In my case there was original directory C:\Programs\Xampp and renamed it to C:\PROGRAMS_\Xampp and that was the mistake.

The solution was to find all references on C:\Programs and rename them C:\PROGRAMS_ in the XAMPP directory, because for some reason during the installation it writes absolute paths, not relative. Of course, there are some references in the registry too.

Answer 4

The World Wide Web Publishing service was not the only one responsible in my case.

I have IIS installed, so I had to stop the whole HTTP service.

These are the commands that I've executed in CMD (as administrator):

net stop W3SVC
net stop http

Answer 5

I found a way to solve this problem:

1. If you are using Skype as well, uncheck the field stating to use ports 80 and 443 (Extra -> Settings -> Advanced -> Connections -> Uncheck Port 80 and 443)
2. Restart Skype and XAMPP.

If this does not work,

1. Go to Start and type "services.msc"
2. Locate "World Wide Web Publishing Service"
3. Right-click on that entry, select "Stop", then restart XAMPP.

If that did not work and "World Wide Web Publishing Service" was not available,

1. Go to the Control Panel, navigate to "Uninstall Programs", then "Turn on/off Windows features"
2. Locate "Internet Information Services"
3. Click the checkbox and hit "OK".
4. Restart, then repeat the second approach (services.msc)

Answer 6

Update: 15th May, 2018:

The latest Windows 10 update (re-)activated the World Wide Web Publishing Service (in German: WWW-Publishingdienst). This might depend on the options you select during the configuration of the update you can make afterwards.

Update: 4th August, 2015:

If you have done clean installation of Windows 10, you may not have the Word Wide Web Publishing Service. In that case, simple WAMP/XAMPP installation should work fine.

If it doesn't, try installing Visual C++ Redistributable and then re-install WAMP/XAMPP.

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I was facing a similar problem with WAMP. In Windows 10 TP, the Word Wide Web Publishing Service comes pre-installed. This is related to IIS and you can remove it if you don't need it.

This blocks the port 80, making Apache act weirdly. You can do the following and try again.

• Go to Start, type in services.msc
• Scroll down in the Services window to find the World Wide Web Publishing Service.
• Right click on it and select Stop.

This should make port 80 free and restarting WAMP/XAMPP should get you up and running!

There are other ways to do fix this. See Make WAMP Work On Windows 10.