Downloading and Installing XAMPP for Windows

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XAMPP is a set of software packages that can be installed on a desktop of laptop computer that make the computer appear as if it's a web server. This allows website designers and programmers to test their work on their own computers without being connected to the Internet. (See the Wikipedia entry on XAMPP for more information.) Because WordPress is a web application, it can be installed on a computer running XAMPP and used as if were actually on the Internet.


XAMPP (or its operating-system-specific variants) can be installed on computers running the Windows, OS X and Linux operating systems. As of this writing, I have installed it on desktops and laptops running Windows Vista and Windows 7. The following screenshots were made from an install I just did on a desktop running Windows 7:

(1) Go to the XAMPP for Windows site (http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html) and scroll down the page.



















(2) Continue scrolling down until you reach the heading "Jump-off point." Under the subheading "Download," left click on "XAMPP Lite."





















(3) This will jump down to the download section of the page for XAMPP Lite. Left click on "EXE" for the "Self-extracting RAR archiv." (RAR is a way of compressing a file to make it smaller, like ZIP.)






















(4) After the file has finished downloading (a) navigate to where you saved it on your computer, (b) right click on the name of the downloaded file (or double click with the left mouse button and skip step (c), and (c) left click on "Open."
















(5) When the menu pops up, left click on "Run."





















(6) In the next menu to appear, note that the destination folder is your C (C:) drive.















(7) Modify the default so that a folder named "xampp" will be created on your C drive (C:/xampp).
















(8) Next, left click on "Install" to begin the extraction and installation process.
















(9) A green bar at the bottom of the menu will show the progress of the extraction and the installation.
















(10) On completion, a Windows command-line terminal will appear. It will ask you a series of questions to which you will need to reply "y" or "n" and then press enter.

You will first be asked if you want to create a Start Menu entry and a Desktop shortcut for XAMPP. Type "y" and press the "Enter" key.















(11) The next question asks if you want to make an XAMPP without drive letters (e.g., for installation on a flash drive). Type "n" and press "Enter."
















(12) When you receive a message saying XAMPP is ready to use, just press the "Enter" key.















(13) The install will determine your time zone from your computer. Press "Enter" to accept this.
















(14) If you wish to launch XAMPP Control Panel at this point, enter "1" and press "Enter."
















The XAMPP Control Panel will then appear.















(15) Otherwise, type "x" and press "Enter" to exit the Windows terminal.

















(16) Now, the XAMPP Control Panel can be launched the same way you would any other Windows application, by either double clicking on the XAMPP icon on the Desktop or by going to the Start Menu at the lower left corner of the screen.