If you get an error that refers to a socket address,or port 80, these indicate that xampp can’t start because port 80 is already in use. This means that you are running other piece of software that is already using port 80. The most likely candidates are Skype or another Web server such as MS IIS or Cold Fusion server.
SOLUTION 1: Exit the program that is causing the conflict, start xammp again and it should run with no problem. For SKYPE, see SOLUTION 2 below. If you are running another Web server or can’t determine what program is causing the conflict, SOLUTION 3 below may be simplest for you.
SOLUTION 2 (IF YOU USE SKYPE): Skype does not actually need port 80 but will use it if it’s available. So if Skype is running BEFORE you start xampp you will get an error. But if you run Skype AFTER starting xamppp, both programs should run OK. Alternatively you can tell Skype not to use Port 80, as follows.
Depending on your version of Skype. either:
(a) Go to File-> Options -> Connection or
(b) Go to Tools->Options->Connection
Now Uncheck Use Port 80 as an alternative for incoming connections. You may need to restart Skype after doing this. You should now be able to run xamppp with no problem.
SOLUTION 3: If you cannot determine which software is causing the conflict, OR if you want to run both programs, you can tell xampp to listen to port 8080 (the alternative for port 80). IMPORTANT: Once you make the change to accomplish this you will need to restart xampp, and use http://localhost:8080/ in the address window instead of just http://localhost/. Here are the changes to use port 8080:
Start a text editor and choose Open File. Browse to your xammplite folder location and open xampplite\apache\conf\httpd.conf. You will make TWO changes:
- Somewhere around line 53 (or just search for this), you will find the line: Listen 80 Change this to: Listen 8080 (NOTE: do not change the lines that begin with # – these are comments and will not effect the configuration)
- Somewhere around line 169 (or just search for this), you will find the line: ServerName localhost:80 Change this to: ServerName localhost:8080 (NOTE: do not change the lines that begin with # – these are comments and will not effect the configuration)
- Save the file. Start xampp. It should now run with no problem but your URL must always begin with http://localhost:8080/ instead of http://localhost/