How to install XAMPP on windows 7

XAMPP stands for Cross-Platform (X), Apache (A), MySQL (M), PHP (P) and Perl (P). It is a simple, lightweight Apache distribution that makes it extremely easy for developers to create a local web server for testing purposes. Everything you need to set up a web server – server application (Apache), database (MySQL), and scripting language (PHP) – is included in a simple extractable file. XAMPP is also cross-platform, which means it works equally well on Linux, Mac and Windows. 

Step 1 - Download XAMPP setup from website:

Step 2 - Disable your anti-virus as it can cause some XAMPP components to behave erratically.

Step 3 - Start the installation process by double-clicking on the XAMPP installer.

Step 4 - For Windows 7 users, you will see a window pop up, warning you about User Account Control (UAC) being active on your system. Click OK to continue the installation.

Step 5 - Next you will see the Welcome to the XAMPP setup wizard screen. Click Next to continue the installation.

Step 6 - Choose the folder you want to install XAMPP. This folder will hold all your web application files, so make sure to select a drive that has plenty of space.

Step 7 - The next screen is a promo for BitNami, an app store for server software. Deselect the ‘Learn more about BitNami for XAMPP’ checkbox, unless you actually enjoy receiving promo mails.

Step 8 - Setup is now ready to install XAMPP. Click Next and wait for the installer to unpack and install selected components. This may take a few minutes.

Step 9 - Installation is now complete! Select the ‘Do you want to start the Control Panel now?’ checkbox to open the XAMPP control panel.

Step 10 - The XAMPP control panel gives you complete control over all installed XAMPP components and tart the apache and mysql.

Step 11 - Test the XAMPP, open your web browser and type in: http://localhost or 127.0.0.1. Select your language from the splash screen.

You should see the following screen. This means you’ve successfully installed XAMPP on your computer.

Step 12 - We will now test whether XAMPP has installed PHP successfully. Open Notepad and type the following into a new document:

     <?php
       phpinfo();
     ?>

Save this file as ‘test.php’ in c:\xampp\htdocs\ (or whichever directory you installed XAMPP in).
Navigate to http://localhost/phpinfo.php. You should see the “Hello World” message

Step 13 - You can access phpMyAdmin by entering http://localhost/phpmyadmin in your web browser.

That's it.....