I just upgraded XAMPP Lite from 1.7.0 to 1.7.3, and since then xampp_cli.exe has been crashing when I start Apache from the XAMPP Control Panel. Despite this, Apache does seem to run fine.
The actual error popup is the usual one that comes up in Windows XP when a program crashes. It says "XAMPP: control services from the shell has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
I am running Windows XP build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.091208-2036 (Service Pack 3) on a PC at work. Since I don't have administrative rights or rights to install in C:\ I have XAMPP Lite installed in C:\Documents and Settings\echristopherson\My Documents\Development\XAMPPLite. I do not run any XAMPP-provided servers as Windows services. I ran setup_xampp.bat to set up the path, and told it to not store the drive letter with it.
As I said, I'm now using XAMPP Lite 1.7.3. The Control Panel (Apache Friends Edition) version is "XAMPP Control Panel Version 2.5.8 (2009-07-28)"; the xampp_cli.exe version is "xampp_cli.exe v1.6 by (c) 2009 Carsten Wiedmann (FreeBSD License)."
Please let me know if I should file a bug for this. Thanks.