Apache Friends Support Forum

I have just installed XAMPP version 1.6.8 on a new Windows XP Pro machine.
C:\xampp\apache\bin\php.ini includes these lines ( no preceding ;):
extension=php_mbstring.dll
extension=php_mysql.dll
extension=php_mysqli.dll

This is the php.ini files being used by Apache as reported by phpinfo()

The above .dll files are all in the C:\xampp\php\ext folder

I have set a password for the root user and updated the config.inc.php file to reflect the new password.

I can open phpmyadmin but I get the following error:
Cannot load mysql extension. Please check your PHP configuration.

On the status page, MySQL Database is shown as "deactivated".

I have searched for this error, but have only found the above solutions, none of which seem to apply to my situation.
Where am I going wrong?
Thanks for your help.
DavidR

I saw in the System log that there is a reference to the php_mysql.dll

"Generate Activation Context failed for C:\xampp\php\ext\php_mysql.dll. Reference error message: The operation completed successfully."
I also see the following errors generated when I start Apache:
Generate Activation Context failed for C:\xampp\apache\bin\LIBPQ.dll.
Resolve Partial Assembly failed for Microsoft.VC80.CRT

The Apache error.log file contains this line:
"PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library 'C:\\xampp\\php\\ext\\php_mysql.dll' - This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.\r\n in Unknown on line 0"

This is a standard installation of XAMPP so what could I have configured incorrectly?

What should I be doing differently?

DavidRogers wrote:I have just installed XAMPP version 1.6.8 on a new Windows XP Pro machine.
C:\xampp\apache\bin\php.ini includes these lines ( no preceding :
extension=php_mbstring.dll
extension=php_mysql.dll
extension=php_mysqli.dll

This is the php.ini files being used by Apache as reported by phpinfo()

The above .dll files are all in the C:\xampp\php\ext folder

I have set a password for the root user and updated the config.inc.php file to reflect the new password.

I can open phpmyadmin but I get the following error:
Cannot load mysql extension. Please check your PHP configuration.

On the status page, MySQL Database is shown as "deactivated".

I have searched for this error, but have only found the above solutions, none of which seem to apply to my situation.
Where am I going wrong?
Thanks for your help.
DavidR