dgewirtz wrote:...1.6.3a on XP SP3 to the current release.
Unfortunately there is no upgrade available from way back then to right now.
So a fresh installation is required, but first consider your PHP scripts, if you use them, as in 1.7.2 the version of PHP included is 5.3 and some of the older scripts may not work in this version until the script's code is updated - Joomla for example has issues yet and I am sure that other such scripts may chuck a wobbly in the new version.
Check your installed scripts with the script author's web site for compatibility with PHP 5.3.
XAMPP 1.7.1 is the last version that has PHP 5.2 and seems to work with most older scripts.
The following is not a 1. 2. 3. style step by step but it should make things clear and easy to follow or at least I hope it will.
When uninstalling the old version and before making a
Copy of xampp (
see below) make sure that all XAMPP components are stopped and any that are installed as an NT service are also uninstalled by removing the tick in the
Svc box in the XAMPP Control Panel (
XCP) or by running the individual
_uninstallservice.bat files in their respective folders in the xampp folder tree.
Then close the XCP and you should now be ready to make your
Copy of xampp folder and proceed to install your new version - the above uninstalling procedure is paramount and if not carried out correctly may result in your new installation failing and please do read the
XAMPP for Windows Home Page and the linked
FAQ for some useful tips and help.
You obviously are aware of making a
Copy of xampp folder by dragging and holding the
Ctrl key so you can easily transfer your own files and folders without much trouble and the advantage of this is that you can do that copy over of your own files and folders one at a time so you can easily see if there are any issues with individual scripts - do not copy any of the XAMPP system files like .conf or .ini files over but rather edit the new version's configuration files with any custom edits you made in your old XAMPP version.
This
Copy of xampp folder will also contain your databases which may also be transferred to the new version, with one proviso that older databases will need to be upgraded with an upgrade script, included in XAMPP, to make them compatible with the latest MySQL version:
C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysql_upgrade.exeYour databases are stored in folders in the
C:\xampp\mysql\data folder and carry the name you gave your databases - they will go in the corresponding folder in your new version installation but do not copy over any of the system databases only your own.
Then run the above exe to bring the databases up to date after first starting your new MySQL in the XCP.
Using this method you always have your old 1.6.3a version intact if things go pear shaped.
Before you start please do post back with any questions you may have about anything that is not quite clear.
TIPIf you rename the
Copy of xampp to say
xampp163, after you have your new version up and running successfully and you then run the
setup_xampp.bat file in the
xampp163 folder, you can have the best of both worlds, your 1.6.3a version and your new version you installed in the xampp folder (
using this method I have 5 previous versions of XAMPP installed which I can start manually for troubleshooting on these forums) - but you can only run one instance at a time though, so you would stop say your new version using it's XCP then open your
xampp163 folder and run it's XCP and start Apache and MySQL manually.
Good luck.