title: Changing Ports XAMPP Windows 7 for MySQL Server
body: <p>This question is a duplicate. The previous question on StackOverflow is: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25471631/xampp-mysql-wont-start-even-after-changing-ports">https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25471631/xampp-mysql-wont-start-even-after-changing-ports</a> and it hasn't been answered (poor OP) - which is why I am asking again now.</p>
  
  <p>When I first turned on XAMPP, mySql56 was using port 80. This conflicted with Apache's default settings which were set to use 80 and 443. I disabled mySql56 and also didn't allow it to start automatically. Now, Apache works when I click "Start" on XAMPP.</p>
  
  <p>Now I want to turn on MySQL. When I click on MySQL "Start", the console shows "Problem detected! Port 3306 in use by "C:/Program Files/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.6/bin\mysqld" --defaults-file="C:/ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\my.ini" MySQL56"! MySQL WILL NOT start without the configured ports free..."</p>
  
  <p>Indeed, when I open the mysql_error log, around about line 20, it does say "Do you already have another mysqld server running on port: 3306?" Turns out, a service called mysqld.exe is using port 3306.</p>
  
  <p>What I first don't understand is how a MySQL service (mysqld.exe) is using 3306 and XAMPP/MySQL is saying someone is using port 3306? In other words, they can't use 3306 because they are using it!</p>
  
  <p>Secondly, I went into the MySQL config file (my.ini) and changed all references to 3306 to 3308. I also changed it in the file called "php.ini" on C/Program Files/xampp/php. Yet when I try to run it again, it is still trying to get onto port 3306 (which again, is being used by itself) despite my changes on the configuration file.</p>
  
  <p>So my objective is to successfully turn on MySQL on XAMPP.</p>