XAMPP Lite, Windows Vista, and php5apache2_2.dll

By  on  

I recently ran into a nightmare when needing to use my father's laptop for development.  My XAMMP Lite USB install, which worked perfectly on my Windows XP desktop, was giving the following error when trying to start Apache:

apache.exe: Syntax error on line 477 of E:/xampplite/apache/conf/httpd.conf: 
Syntax error on line 7 of E:/xampplite/apache/conf/extra/httpd-xampp.conf: 
Cannot load E:/xampplite/apache/bin/php5apache2_2.dll into server: The specified module
could not be found.

After 20 minutes of frustration, I finally found the golden solution.  I needed to download and place msvcr71.dll in my \xampplite\apache\bin folder.  Apparently it's a Microsoft runtime file that Vista doesn't have. Disaster averted!

Recent Features

  • By
    Write Better JavaScript with Promises

    You've probably heard the talk around the water cooler about how promises are the future. All of the cool kids are using them, but you don't see what makes them so special. Can't you just use a callback? What's the big deal? In this article, we'll...

  • By
    Create Namespaced Classes with MooTools

    MooTools has always gotten a bit of grief for not inherently using and standardizing namespaced-based JavaScript classes like the Dojo Toolkit does.  Many developers create their classes as globals which is generally frowned up.  I mostly disagree with that stance, but each to their own.  In any event...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Duplicate DeSandro’s CSS Effect

    I recently stumbled upon David DeSandro's website when I saw a tweet stating that someone had stolen/hotlinked his website design and code, and he decided to do the only logical thing to retaliate:  use some simple JavaScript goodness to inject unicorns into their page.

  • By
    Basic AJAX Requests Using MooTools 1.2

    AJAX has become a huge part of the modern web and that wont change in the foreseeable future. MooTools has made AJAX so simple that a rookie developer can get their dynamic pages working in no time. Step 1: The XHTML Here we define two links...

Discussion

  1. I think thats a DLL that gets installed with .NET.

  2. I would have loved to have known that back in April when I had to set up LAMP on a Vista laptop. Yikes, was it a nightmare!!! AT least I know the fix now. Thanks!!!!!

  3. Jeff Hartman

    That’s a relief.

  4. Tommix

    Does anyone can tell me-why you guys don’t use AppServ, i always used it and don’t know why use others.

  5. Rashy

    David try WAMP Server. It won’t ask you to disable UAC ;)

  6. From France : Thank you very much David, exactly the same problem, since some days. It’s for me a golden and diamond solution !
    And you give the good link to download this file : royal !

  7. BAguiar

    THANK YOU MAN

  8. alwic

    Thanks David, i have that problem too. hope it will fix the problem.

  9. Thanks a lot man . It was the perfect solution.
    Microsoft distorted our brains and wasted a plenty of our time.

    Thanks again.

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!