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apachexamppskype

XAMPP apache server is not starting after Skype installation

I am getting following console logs:

1:14:33 PM  [apache]    Possible problem detected! 
1:14:33 PM  [apache]    Port 80 in use by "c:\program files (x86)\skype\phone\skype.exe"!
1:14:33 PM  [apache]    Possible problem detected! 
1:14:33 PM  [apache]    Port 443 in use by "c:\program files (x86)\skype\phone\skype.exe"!
1:14:33 PM  [main]  Starting Check-Timer
1:14:33 PM  [main]  Control Panel Ready
1:15:10 PM  [apache]    Starting apache app...
1:15:11 PM  [apache]    Status change detected: running
1:15:11 PM  [apache]    Status change detected: stopped

It says 'Status change detected: running' to 'stopped' right away. I have tried to:

  • Turn Off Windows Firewall for internal networks
  • Change Port 80 to 99 in httpd.conf file at two locations Listen:80 and ServerName localhost:80
  • Change Port 443 to 445 in httpd.conf file at same two locations.
  • Apache server is not installed as a Windows service on my machine.
  • There is no error or access log generated for today's date.
Solution

  • This happened to me while collaborating with someone over Skype, so closing Skype was not an option.

    One possible solution is changing the port XAMPP is using for Apache.

    1. Change Apache (httpd.conf)

    Go to the XAMPP Control Panel, click Config for the Apache module and then Apache (httpd.conf).

    XAMPP Control Panel -> Click Config for the Apache module

    Click Apache (httpd.conf) in the new window

    This will now open the configuration file in the editor that is configured in the XAMPP settings (Windows default is notepad.exe). Open the search tool and search for 80. There should be two lines containing 80 as in the port number 80:

    Listen 80

    ServerName localhost:80

    Now replace 80 with an open port. I used 8080.

    Listen 8080

    ServerName localhost:8080

    2. Change Apache (httpd-ssl.conf)

    The same procedure needs to be repeated with the SSL configuration. Repeat the steps above but go to Apache (httpd-ssl.conf). Replace the port numbers in the following lines:

    Listen 443

    <VirtualHost _default_:443>

    ServerName www.example.com:443

    I choose 4433.

    Done. Click Start for Apache and Apache should start fine. On my end, the errors would still show up, though.