I'd be suspicious about a service that doesn't properly respond to shutdown/restart requests - you may want to look at re-installing Apache. That said, I'm not an Apache guy, so i'm not sure how common this under Windows7.

All that aside, you should be able to manually kill the httpd.exe process either via Task Manager, or via a command line as such:

TASKKILL /F /IM httpd.exe /T

The command switches specify that you want to kill any process with the image name 'httpd.exe' (/IM httpd.exe), you want to force the kill (/F) and you want to kill any child processes that it spawned (/T).

After doing this, you should be able to manually start the process again via the Services console, or via the 'net start' command.

function Switch-Webserver {

    Param(
        [Parameter( ParameterSetName = "IIS")]
        [switch]$IIS,
        [Parameter( ParameterSetName = "Apache")]
        [switch]$Apache
    )

    switch ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName)
    {
        'IIS'    { get-service "Apache" | stop-service -force ; start-service IISAdmin }
        'Apache' { get-service IISAdmin | stop-service -force ; start-service "Apache" }
    }

}

you can use this function in PowerShell console like this:

Switch-Webserver -IIS # This will stop Apache and start IIS
Switch-Webserver -Apache # This will stop IIS and start Apache

You can put this function inside your PowerShell Profile or load it from a console window like this:

. C:\Path\To\Function\Switch-Webserver.ps1

Going back to absolute basics here. The answers on this page and a little googling have brought me to the following resolution to my issue. Steps to restart the apache service with Xampp installed:-

1. Click the start button and type CMD (if on Windows Vista or later and Apache is installed as a service make sure this is an elevated command prompt)
2. In the command window that appears type cd C:\xampp\apache\bin (the default installation path for Xampp)
3. Then type httpd -k restart

I hope that this is of use to others just starting out with running a local Apache server.

Hi Blue

My name is Andre Da Costa; an Independent Consultant, Windows Insider MVP and Windows & Devices for IT MVP. I'm here to help you with your problem.

Click Start

Type: cmd

Right click CMD

Click Run as administrator

Navigate to the default Apache installation directory, for example, C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache or wherever apache.exe is located.

You can CD Program Files\Apache Group\Apache

Hit Enter

At the command prompt, type apache -u.

Close the Command Prompt window.



Go to Windows Services and check that Apache is no longer listed as a service.

Press Windows key + R

Type: services.msc

Hit Enter

Uninstall Apache HTTP Server 1.3.26 in Programs and Features

Press Windows key + R

Type: appwiz.cpl

Hit Enter

Scroll through the list.

Delete any Apache installation directories in Windows Explorer, for example, C:\Apache.