I tried to install xampp and xampplite http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html but could not start the apache server it appeared to be a problem with using port 80

I installed wampserver http://www.wampserver.com/en/ (similar to xampp, less features but still ok for Drupal) and the port 80 test determined that Skype may be using it

I closed Skype and then the server was able to run and I could put wamp online and view the test pages - working fine

I restarted Skype which went through a reinstall procedure, I guess to automatically change ports, so now I have the wamp server and Skype both running

If you are having trouble with wamp, xampp or xampplite try closing Skype

Comments

zeta ζ’s picture

Thanks for pointing this out. Could you write a child page somewhere near http://drupal.org/node/157602 ?

Also you might suggest to http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html that their setup could try to determine what might be using the port.
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decibel.places’s picture

Jeff Burnz’s picture

You can change Skypes connection settings in Tools > Options > Connection

madam07’s picture

Thanks for posting this issue! Its really help me.

greg.harvey’s picture

This is well known. It's not interfering with WAMP or XAMPP per se. It's interfering with any web server, so it's the Apache (web server) application in those packages that can't start if port 80 is in use, because all web servers use port 80 by default and Skype is hogging it.

Skype tries to use port 80 because it is usually open. (It also tries to use the default SSL web server port, coincidentally.) ANY application that needs port 80 will not work if Skype was opened first. However, if Skype was opened second, it will see port 80 is already in use (by Apache, HTTPD Lite, IIS, whatever was started first) and choose a different port.

Three options (in order of difficulty, easiest first) -

1. Check the box in Skype settings telling it not so use port 80 (doesn't get much simpler than that, that's all I do!)
2. Always start your web server *before* you start Skype
3. Change your web server to use a different port (many people run dev servers on a port other than 80, as they may not be 100% secure - WAMP and XAMPP most definitely are *not* and freely admit this - so running on a non-standard port like 8080 reduces the risk of attack if your machine is ever directly on the 'net, which, hopefully it is not!)