Apache will not start on Windows 10/64 bit

[TechByter]

Hello. I'm trying to set up a testing server and have just installed XAMPP on a Windows 10 system.

Skype is running on port 80, so I changed the default port to 8080. In the process of testing, I tried several other ports, but it is now set again at 8080.

Probably unrelated: I used the default installation location (C:\xampp), but the websites are on drive E and I modified httpd.conf to:
ServerRoot "E:/WEBSITES_production/www"
Listen 8080
ServerName localhost:8080
DocumentRoot "E:/WEBSITES_production/www"
<Directory "E:/WEBSITES_production/www">

I also copied (not moved) the contents of C:\xampp\apache to E:\WEBSITES_production\www

The apache error log is empty.

Result of apache_start.bat:
Diese Eingabeforderung nicht waehrend des Running beenden
Bitte erst bei einem gewollten Shutdown schliessen
Please close this command only for Shutdown
Apache 2 is starting ...
(OS 10048)Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted. : AH00072: make_sock: could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:443
AH00451: no listening sockets available, shutting down
AH00015: Unable to open logs

Apache konnte nicht gestartet werden
Apache could not be started
Press any key to continue . . .

Install log:
Installing Apache HTTP Server 2.x with
DomainName = example.com
ServerName = www.example.com
ServerAdmin = admin@example.com
ServerPort = 80
ServerSslPort = 443
ServerRoot = c:/Apache24
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-autoindex.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-autoindex.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-default.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-default.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-multilang-errordoc.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-multilang-errordoc.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-info.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-info.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-userdir.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-userdir.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-mpm.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-mpm.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/httpd.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/httpd.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/proxy-html.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/proxy-html.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-dav.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-dav.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-languages.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-languages.conf
Rewrote docs/conf/extra/httpd-manual.conf.in
to c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-manual.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-autoindex.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-autoindex.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-default.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-default.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-multilang-errordoc.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-multilang-errordoc.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-info.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-info.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-userdir.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-userdir.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-mpm.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-mpm.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/httpd.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/httpd.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/magic
to c:/Apache24/conf/magic
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/charset.conv
to c:/Apache24/conf/charset.conv
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/proxy-html.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/proxy-html.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-dav.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-dav.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/mime.types
to c:/Apache24/conf/mime.types
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-languages.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-languages.conf
Duplicated c:/Apache24/conf/original/extra/httpd-manual.conf
to c:/Apache24/conf/extra/httpd-manual.conf

Please let me know what additional information you need.
Thanks!

[TechByter]

Further information: Following a reboot, I tried again. There's still nothing in the log, but the display was more complete:

8:41:50 PM [main] Initializing Control Panel
8:41:50 PM [main] Windows Version: Pro 64-bit
8:41:50 PM [main] XAMPP Version: 5.6.19
8:41:50 PM [main] Control Panel Version: 3.2.2 [ Compiled: Nov 12th 2015 ]
8:41:50 PM [main] You are not running with administrator rights! This will work for
8:41:50 PM [main] most application stuff but whenever you do something with services
8:41:50 PM [main] there will be a security dialogue or things will break! So think
8:41:50 PM [main] about running this application with administrator rights!
8:41:50 PM [main] XAMPP Installation Directory: "c:\xampp\"
8:41:50 PM [main] Checking for prerequisites
8:41:51 PM [main] All prerequisites found
8:41:51 PM [main] Initializing Modules
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Problem detected!
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Port 443 in use by "C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" with PID 8932!
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Apache WILL NOT start without the configured ports free!
8:41:51 PM [Apache] You need to uninstall/disable/reconfigure the blocking application
8:41:51 PM [Apache] or reconfigure Apache and the Control Panel to listen on a different port
8:41:51 PM [main] Enabling autostart for module "Apache"
8:41:51 PM [main] Enabling autostart for module "MySQL"
8:41:51 PM [main] Starting Check-Timer
8:41:51 PM [main] Control Panel Ready
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Autostart active: starting...
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Problem detected!
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Port 443 in use by "C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" with PID 8932!
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Apache WILL NOT start without the configured ports free!
8:41:51 PM [Apache] You need to uninstall/disable/reconfigure the blocking application
8:41:51 PM [Apache] or reconfigure Apache and the Control Panel to listen on a different port
8:41:51 PM [Apache] Attempting to start Apache app...
8:41:51 PM [mysql] Autostart active: starting...
8:41:51 PM [mysql] Attempting to start MySQL app...
8:41:52 PM [Apache] Status change detected: running
8:41:52 PM [mysql] Status change detected: running
8:41:59 PM [Apache] Status change detected: stopped
8:41:59 PM [Apache] Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.
8:41:59 PM [Apache] This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,
8:41:59 PM [Apache] improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
8:41:59 PM [Apache] Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
8:41:59 PM [Apache] the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
8:41:59 PM [Apache] If you need more help, copy and post this
8:41:59 PM [Apache] entire log window on the forums

[TechByter]

One more attempt after changing the SSL port to 4433:

8:44:22 PM [Apache] Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.
8:44:22 PM [Apache] This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,
8:44:22 PM [Apache] improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
8:44:22 PM [Apache] Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
8:44:22 PM [Apache] the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
8:44:22 PM [Apache] If you need more help, copy and post this
8:44:22 PM [Apache] entire log window on the forums
8:45:19 PM [mysql] Attempting to stop MySQL app...
8:45:21 PM [mysql] Status change detected: stopped
8:45:22 PM [Apache] Attempting to start Apache app...
8:45:22 PM [Apache] Status change detected: running
8:45:23 PM [Apache] Status change detected: stopped
8:45:23 PM [Apache] Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.
8:45:23 PM [Apache] This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,
8:45:23 PM [Apache] improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
8:45:23 PM [Apache] Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
8:45:23 PM [Apache] the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
8:45:23 PM [Apache] If you need more help, copy and post this
8:45:23 PM [Apache] entire log window on the forums

[TechByter]

Final follow-up for this evening. Running as Administrator:

8:48:31 PM [main] Initializing Control Panel
8:48:31 PM [main] Windows Version: Pro 64-bit
8:48:31 PM [main] XAMPP Version: 5.6.19
8:48:31 PM [main] Control Panel Version: 3.2.2 [ Compiled: Nov 12th 2015 ]
8:48:31 PM [main] Running with Administrator rights - good!
8:48:31 PM [main] XAMPP Installation Directory: "c:\xampp\"
8:48:31 PM [main] Checking for prerequisites
8:48:31 PM [main] All prerequisites found
8:48:31 PM [main] Initializing Modules
8:48:31 PM [main] Enabling autostart for module "Apache"
8:48:31 PM [main] Enabling autostart for module "MySQL"
8:48:31 PM [main] Starting Check-Timer
8:48:31 PM [main] Control Panel Ready
8:48:31 PM [Apache] Autostart active: starting...
8:48:31 PM [Apache] Attempting to start Apache app...
8:48:31 PM [mysql] Autostart active: starting...
8:48:31 PM [mysql] Attempting to start MySQL app...
8:48:32 PM [Apache] Status change detected: running
8:48:32 PM [mysql] Status change detected: running
8:48:32 PM [Apache] Status change detected: stopped
8:48:32 PM [Apache] Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.
8:48:32 PM [Apache] This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,
8:48:32 PM [Apache] improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
8:48:32 PM [Apache] Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
8:48:32 PM [Apache] the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
8:48:32 PM [Apache] If you need more help, copy and post this
8:48:32 PM [Apache] entire log window on the forums
8:48:38 PM [mysql] Attempting to stop MySQL app...
8:48:40 PM [mysql] Status change detected: stopped
8:48:42 PM [Apache] Attempting to start Apache app...
8:48:42 PM [Apache] Status change detected: running
8:48:43 PM [Apache] Status change detected: stopped
8:48:43 PM [Apache] Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.
8:48:43 PM [Apache] This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,
8:48:43 PM [Apache] improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
8:48:43 PM [Apache] Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
8:48:43 PM [Apache] the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
8:48:43 PM [Apache] If you need more help, copy and post this
8:48:43 PM [Apache] entire log window on the forums
8:48:49 PM [mysql] Attempting to start MySQL app...
8:48:49 PM [mysql] Status change detected: running

[Altrea]

Hi,

Skype is running on port 80, so I changed the default port to 8080.

Why? You can tell Skype not to use these ports: [Q&A] solving Port 80 & 443 in use by Skype issue

Please rerun apache_start.bat and tell us the results.

best wishes,
Altrea

[TechByter]

Well, that's pretty embarrassing. I closed Skype and Apache launched properly. So I set Apache back to port 80 and all was well. After setting Skype not to use port 80 and rebooting, Apache continued to run properly. Conclusion: I am an idiot.

Everything is working as expected now.