This is what I did. I downloaded to my desk top and extracted. I opened the XAMPP folder to make sure that there was not another folder nested that is labeled XAMPP. When you double click the XAMPP folder on your desk top you want to see all the other folders. Close the folder the either cpy and paste or drag to the main drive. So now when you click my computer and open your main drive (mine is C: drive) you should see the XAMPP folder. You don't want it in any other folder (like Program files). I have found this site
http://robsnotebook.com/ very helpfull in configuring XAMPP. Look in the categories list for XAMPP. Also there are some great videos related to XAMPP on Youtube. Wishing you luck.
wrecker69