Problems With XAMPP (1 of 2 services running)

When I try to start Apache, it gives me this error:

11:30:58 PM [Apache] Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.
11:30:58 PM [Apache] This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,
11:30:58 PM [Apache] improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
11:30:58 PM [Apache] Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
11:30:58 PM [Apache] the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
11:30:58 PM [Apache] If you need more help, copy and post this
11:30:58 PM [Apache] entire log window on the forums

It used to work before I uninstalled XAMPP, but now it doesn't do anything. What do I do?

1 Answer

The first thing you should do is check your Apache log files. These can be found under the logs directory for the XAMPP Apache installation (e.g. c:\xampp\apache\logs). Any error.log may contain useful information.

As additional basic troubleshooting, the next things to try are:

• Run httpd.exe manually (under e.g. c:\xampp\apache\bin). Open a command windows in e.g. c:\xampp\apache\bin and type httpd.exe. This should cause Apache to attempt to start. If it cannot, it will display one or more errors that might help explain why it's failing to start (such as incorrect configuration details and the exact file/line numbers in which those issues appear).

• Look for port conflicts with the Netstat tool in the XAMPP control panel. Particularly, look for entries including port 80 (HTTP) and port 443 (HTTPS). Other conflicting ports may be 8000, 8008 and 8080 (depending on how XAMPP is configured). If these entries exist (and Apache isn't running), this means there is another program or service already using that port (which could conflict with Apache). If this is the case, any program or service associated with an entry may need to be shut down for Apache to run correctly. Note that you can achieve (roughly) the same output as using Netstat from the XAMPP control panel with netstat -a from the Windows command line.

Lastly, you can view logs related to e.g. any installed Apache service crash with the Windows Event Viewer in Windows 7 and 10 by typing event viewer into Windows Search and selecting the Event Viewer link that automatically appears.

Note that since you have had XAMPP installed prior to this, there may also be some issue with Windows service entries. If all else fails, you may want to look for any service entries marked e.g. Apache2.4 under the Services control panel (Windows Search, type services and select the entry with a "gears" icon simply marked Services) and uninstall/reinstall those service, as needed).