title: XAMPP won't start apache
body: <p>I need to set up a local php server and downloaded XAMPP version 3.2.1 for windows. The installation finished without error messages and the control panel starts just fine. MySQL runs without problems but apache won't start.</p>
  <p>The error message says:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>12:17:01  [Apache]     Attempting to start Apache app...</p>
  <p>12:17:01  [Apache]     Status change detected: running</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     Status change detected: stopped</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     Press the Logs button to view error logs and check</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     the Windows Event Viewer for more clues</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     If you need more help, copy and post this</p>
  <p>12:17:02  [Apache]     entire log window on the forums</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>I tried various ports, apache still doesn't start. I started the control panel as administrator - I am logged into the administrator account on this machine, but there's this extra button &quot;start as administrator&quot;- . It doesn't work.</p>
  <p>Unfortunately the error logs are not created. The control panel complains that it couldn't find the appropriate files, should they be created ? I clicked yes and tried to start apache again. Same error message, now the error logs are found but they are still empty.</p>
  <p>I searched for similar problems and found this question: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15670761/apache-in-xampp-wont-start">Apache in XAMPP won&#39;t start</a></p>
  <p>The accepted answer recommends to close the windows services &quot;WebClient&quot; and &quot;Web Deployment Agent Service&quot;. I've disabled &quot;WebClient&quot; but &quot;Web Deployment Agent Service&quot; is not installed. Sounds like VisualStudio which I don't have on this machine.</p>
  <p>My guess is that my apache installation is not sane. Probably misses some dependencies. How can I check this ?</p>
  <p>UPDATE:</p>
  <p>It seems that although I changed the configuration files, apache still tried to run on port 80. And this port was indeed blocked by Skype. After closing skype, apache ran fine. And it was available on localhost:80 despite the fact that I definitely specified another port in the config file. @steven if you made your comment into an answer, i would accept it.</p>