A Basic How-To on Getting It Going

First, install XAMPP from ApacheFriends, and make sure you check off MySQL and APACHE as services.

The  next step is to make sure there is a  ROOT password.  Go to Start > Run > “cmd”.  Change directory to C:\xampp\mysql\bin and run the following command

mysqladmin -u root password BLUE

Where BLUE is the password of your choice.

Close that “cmd” widow.  In “My Computer” navigate to c:\xampp\phpmyadmin and edit config.inc.php in Notepad.

On line 70 (or thereabouts) replace:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password']      = ”;

with

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password']      = ‘blue’; – once again where BLUE is the password you choose.

Now, you will be able to access phpMyAdmin from the XAMPP Control Panel without problem.

Next, extract Joomla (whatever version you want) to a new folder in the C:\xampp\htdocs folder.

In phpMyAdmin you’ll need to create a new database (whatever name you want).

Surf to http://localhost/joomlafolder (where joomlafolder is the foldername you selected.

Follow the installation instructions on the screen and when you get to the hostname, etc… screen use this info:

Host Name          : localhost
MySQL User Name    : root
MySQL Password     : blue
MySQL Database Name: (whatever)
MySQL Table Prefix : (whatever)

Then complete the rest of the steps and you should be golden!