amanda099 wrote:And what is the (.htaccess) in XAMPP DIRECTORY PROTECTION (.htaccess) there for ?
A .htaccess file is like a mini httpd.conf file that is directory specific in nature and carries the instructions, in this XAMPP case, to ask for authentication before it will allow access to the xampp directory (folder) - authentication usually requires 2 files, a .htaccess file and a .htpasswd file but in the case of XAMPP DIRECTORY PROTECTION it renames the .htpasswd file to xampp.users file and it can be found in the \xampp\security folder and contains the user name and an encrypted password you set in the security page.
A .htaccess file is read by the server after the main httpd.conf file is read and so will override any directory specific instructions it may find in a .htaccess file.
You can open .htaccess and xampp.users (or .htpasswd) files in your text editor to read and/or edit their content.
Here are some links to the Apache Docs on this subject so you may familiorize yourself, but remember that in XAMPP all the hard work is done for you when you use the Security Page form:
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/ ... .html#authhttp://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/programs/htpasswd.html(
Note the htpasswd referred in the above link is a binary command line file htpasswd.exe that is found in the \xampp\apache\bin
folder and is used by XAMPP in this case to create an encrypted password to go in the .htpasswd (or xampp.users) file).
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/auth.htmlLet me know if you need more help but an Internet search for .htaccess and .htpasswd will give lots of useful relevant info.
BTW, if you ever need to reset or delete your password after forgetting it and being unable to access the XAMPP pages then follow the instructions in this link to delete your old user/pass and then recreate it using the Security page again:
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