Hmmm., just a quess but did you modify the httpd.conf file in /xampp/apache/conf directory to have it point to a separate directory? Check the httpd.conf fiel and make that both parameters are set to an existing directory.
Make sure both DocumentRoot and Directory are set up properly.
---from httpd.conf file
ServerName localhost:80
#
# UseCanonicalName: Determines how Apache constructs self-referencing
# URLs and the SERVER_NAME and SERVER_PORT variables.
# When set "Off", Apache will use the Hostname and Port supplied
# by the client. When set "On", Apache will use the value of the
# ServerName directive.
#
UseCanonicalName Off
#
# DocumentRoot: The directory out of which you will serve your
# documents. By default, all requests are taken from this directory, but
# symbolic links and aliases may be used to point to other locations.
#
DocumentRoot "c:/apachefriends/xampp/htdocs"
#
# Each directory to which Apache has access can be configured with respect
# to which services and features are allowed and/or disabled in that
# directory (and its subdirectories).
#
# First, we configure the "default" to be a very restrictive set of
# features.
#
<Directory>
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
</Directory>
#
# Note that from this point forward you must specifically allow
# particular features to be enabled - so if something's not working as
# you might expect, make sure that you have specifically enabled it
# below.
#
#
# This should be changed to whatever you set DocumentRoot to.
#
<Directory "c:/apachefriends/xampp/htdocs">
#
One way to set a new diretory at least for a test bed whilst maintaining access to the original xampp pages is to set up a virtual host (very end of httpd.conf file) such as:
#NameVirtualHost *:80
#
# VirtualHost example:
# Almost any Apache directive may go into a VirtualHost container.
# The first VirtualHost section is used for requests without a known
# server name.
#
<VirtualHost test:80>
ServerAdmin
test@test.com
DocumentRoot j:/www
ServerName test:80
</VirtualHost>
Now you can type in //test and go to your development directory and maintain the original xampp stuff.
If worst come to worse see the httpd.default.conf file
Don't forget to restart apache after changes.
Regards