difficulty getting started

[WebGirl_Lisa]

I have installed and set up xampp, however, upon going to the local host page, I'm getting the following error:
I'll be honest, I have not a clue what I'm doing with servers. I set this up so I can test WordPress while I customize themes.
I need help please!
thank you

Error Summary
HTTP Error 500.19 - Internal Server Error
The requested page cannot be accessed because the related configuration data for the page is invalid.
Detailed Error Information
Module IIS Web Core
Notification Unknown
Handler Not yet determined
Error Code 0x800700b7
Config Error There is a duplicate 'system.web.extensions/scripting/webServices/jsonSerialization' section defined
Config File \\?\C:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config

[BigWetDog]

It appears that in addition to xampp you already have a web server called IIS (Internet Information Services) installed on your machine. You can either uninstall IIS using the add/remove windows components or you can configure it not start automatically. The procedure will vary depending on which flavor of windows you are using. Once that's done you will be able to run xampp, at least the web server component (Apache).
Alternatively you could use IIS to host your wordpress installation (instead of xampp apache) and use the xampp mysql for the supporting database server. (this may be the easier path). As you can download the IIS Platform installer and use it to install php (the script parsing engine that enables wordpress) and wordpress itself.

[WebGirl_Lisa]

I love you thanks!