Errors of Success

What happens when you install the world's most popular server software on the latest version of the world's most popular OS? You get an error message proclaiming "success", that's what. Having bounced back and forth between my old desktop machine, and my brand new laptop, I finally took the plunge, and installed Apache 2.2. Having once installed Apache on a machine running Windows XP, I fully expected the Vista installation to be a piece of cake. Imagine my horror when I found myself confronted with this cryptic little bit of programming. With a sinking feeling in my gut I proceeded to test http://localhost/ (assuming that the default configuration would temporarily be OK). No localhost.

Feeling thwarted, but not yet ready to give up hope, I turned to my only available recourse: I googled "Apache Vista error". I immediately discovered that the Apache Services Monitor, the method of choice for starting/stopping/restarting Apache on Windows, doesn't work on Vista. I also discovered that Windows User Account Protection prevents Apache's installation as a service. Once I turned off UAP, I was able to install and start Apache via command line. From there it was simply (I use the word loosely) a matter of finding the right configuration file, and making some minor adjustments.

Woohoo! Now to install PHP.