XAMPP, Apache - Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly

Question

I've just re-installed XAMPP, and when I try to start my Apache server in the XAMPP Control Panel, I now get the following errors:

16:50:25  [Apache]     Status change detected: running 16:50:26  [Apache]     Status change detected: stopped 16:50:26  [Apache]     Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly. 16:50:26  [Apache]     This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies, 16:50:26  [Apache]     improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method. 16:50:26  [Apache]     Press the Logs button to view error logs and check 16:50:26  [Apache]     the Windows Event Viewer for more clues 16:50:26  [Apache]     If you need more help, copy and post this 16:50:26  [Apache]     entire log window on the forums 

How do I solve this?

Answer 1

As I am working in a corporate environment where developers faces firewall issues, none of the other answers resolved my issue.

As the port is not used by Skype, but by some other internal applications, I followed the below steps to resolve the issue:

Step 1 - From the XAMPP Control Panel, under Apache, click the Config button, and select the Apache (httpd.conf).

Inside the httpd.conf file, somehow I found a line that says:

Listen 80 

And change the 80 into any number / port you want. In my scenario I’m using port 8080.

Listen 8080 

Still from the httpd.conf file, I found another line that says:

ServerName localhost:80 

Change 80 to 8080.

ServerName localhost:8080 

Step 2 - From the XAMPP Control Panel, under Apache, click the Config button again, but this time select the Apache (httpd-ssl.conf). Inside the httpd-ssl.conf file, find line that says

Listen 443 

And change the 443 into any number / port you want. I’ll using 4433 as the new port number.

Listen 4433 

Still from the httpd-ssl.conf file, find another line that says

<VirtualHost _default_:443>  ServerName localhost:443 

And change 443 to 4433.

<VirtualHost _default_:4433>  ServerName localhost:4433 

Remember to save the httpd.conf and httpd-ssl.conf files after performing some changes. Then restart the Apache service.