Comments on: How to Install Apache Web Server on Windows

By: ben332211

ben332211 — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:59:27 +0000

One option for getting Apache, PHP & MySQL up and running very quickly is EasyPHP: http://www.easyphp.org/

I often recommend this to newbies’s looking at learning PHP or just wanting to easily test code locally.

It’s obviously not a good option for power users or for running a production server, but is a useful tool that does exactly what it claims, :)

Best Wishes,
-Ben

By: peterb

peterb — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:29:20 +0000

You forgot to mention wampserver that can be found here.

wampserver

It includes the latest Php, MySql, and Apache server.
Works on Vista and has a forum.

I use it on XP to work with Elxis CMS.

One tip, load the server before programs like skype, messenger, etc..

By: kichu

kichu — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:44:50 +0000

Good article.

You may like to add the following information also:

1. Just as using the command “net start apache”, you may stop the Apache service by using “net stop apache”. It will be useful if you intend to free the memory and cpu resources.

2. In addition to “localhost”, you may point your browser to the computer name (as set in the system information), or http://127.0.0.1, or you may map any fancy name (even “Google”) to your localhost by editing the Windows “Hosts” file which resides in %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\.

3. Running Apache in your local system would be especially useful in testing new themes and plugins if you use a popular blog/cms package like WordPress and/or when you wish to try your hand in programming with PHP.

My dos pesos!

S.K

By: Craig Buckler

Craig Buckler — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:23:14 +0000

@peach
Thanks for the link to Acquia. It looks interesting, although it could be configured to just run Drupal. Once you have Apache, PHP and MySQL on your PC, installing Drupal or any other LAMP application is not difficult.

By: peach

peach — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:41:31 +0000

Just a sidenote, some CMS packages can be downloaded, packed with a webserver. They’ve done this with Drupal (dont know of any others) and you can download a single package containing the webserver stack and Drupal on top of it: http://acquia.com/downloads
I reckon you can also use the packed webserver with other systems but I’m not sure, as I haven’t tried it yet.

By: Craig Buckler

Craig Buckler — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:40:04 +0000

@RedTalon
I’ve been running Apache, PHP and MySQL on Windows for several years without any obvious problems. I suppose the only problem you might encounter is mods that work on one OS but not another – but all ones I’ve tested are fine.

As Dan pointed out, it’s often more convenient to develop and test on your main PC.

With regard to .NET, I’d still recommend using the server your host does. If they’re using IIS then testing on Apache/Mono is likely to throw the odd incompatibility issue.

By: Dan Grossman

Dan Grossman — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:33:27 +0000

RedTalon: Because it’s nice to be able to test websites on your desktop PC, without having to upload them to a server, and most desktop PCs are running Windows.

By: RedTalon

RedTalon — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:00:40 +0000

Craig,

Nice article.

I wonder if there are any issues with running Apache on Windows as opposed to Linux.

I’m thinking why bother with Windows when I can just set the whole server up with Linux. Using the mod_mono module for Apache I can even run ASP.Net apps on my LAMP server.

Any thoughts?

http://www.mono-project.com/Mod_mono

By: transparent_opa

transparent_opa — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:03:20 +0000

Nice picture of a Mac Book to go with the article :P

By: Craig Buckler

Craig Buckler — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:36:25 +0000

That is a good point – IIS and Apache will run concurrently. However, for the sake of sanity, most people are likely to choose one and stick with it. Apache is more powerful than the Windows Professional or VS.NET versions of IIS unless you’re doing ASP.NET or Classic ASP development.