Although I have not had reason to turn off the HTTP trace method, I do know it is closely associated with mod_rewrite. If you are using mod_rewrite, you may not be able to disable HTTP trace. This kind of question really should be posted on the Apache Project for a truly definitive answer.
How to get Apache Support
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/faq/al ... er-supportApache Lounge (True Apache Geeks)
http://www.apachelounge.com/viewforum.php?f=5I'll also say that if you are planning/architecting web services, XAMPP for Windows (although I love it) is not a good prototyping platform, too many quirks (not particularly with Apache) that will lead to 'it works one place and does not work in the other place' and things that WILL NOT work at all. I run a Fedora workstation and server for critical testing (JMHO). XAMMP is best for designing and testing PHP, Java and Perl driven web scripts that are non-critical (and that covers a lot of gorund)
Although these Forums often have PHP, Perl, phpMyAdmin and MySQL questions answered, the real purpose of the forum is to support the XAMPP distribution, not its components. No one here developed any of that software - the XAMPP team debugs, configures, bundles (make/build) and compiles it and then creates the installers/scripts only. THAT is a LOT of work and keeps the bosses busy.
Good Luck with your project.