I should point out that those instructions are if running Apache as a service, not as a module. If running as a module, you start and stop using XAMPP Control's "Start" and "Stop" buttons.
No. "apache_start.bat" is for starting Apache as normal application (modul). (and apache_stop.bat for stopping)
If you have installed Apache as service you can start it with (in cmd):
net start apache
and stop it with:
net stop apache
You can also control the Apache service with the Windows service manager (as every other installed service).
With the XAMPP control panel you can start/stop Apache as service or as application (modul).