I downloaded and installed XAMPP to my local machine. I then downloaded the files I have on my hosting service to my new local machine (other laptop was recently stolen--long story!)
First question: I had set up on my hosting service so that when you try to access my website, which is still in development, you are prompted for a username and password. Now that I downloaded the files to my local machine from the hosting server, when I try to access my website locally, I'm still prompted for a username and password.
How do I get rid of that login prompt when I want to simply check the .php files via XAMPP on my local machine?
Also, when I try to access the index.php file on my local machine, I receive the following error:
Server error!
The server encountered an internal error and was unable to complete your request. Either the server is overloaded or there was an error in a CGI script.
If you think this is a server error, please contact the webmaster.
Error 500
What would cause that and how can I open my .PHP files locally via XAMPP?
Thank you for any help!