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Apache HTTP Server is the best web server available on the market. It is completely free, open source, and supports Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac. In this article you will see how easy it is to download, install and configure Apache on your computer.
Download and Unpack Apache
Download Apache from http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/ of http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi. Look for the "Win32 Binary (MSI Installer)". This article covers version 2.0 but it is equally good for version 2.2. Your file file shoule be named something like: apache_2.0.53-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi

Installing Apache
To install, double-click on your downloaded file. A prompt for "Server Information" would appear after a few standard windows. Following are the conventional settings:

Network Domain: localhost
Server Name: localhost
Admin Email: type your email here. Don't worry, Apache won't spam.
Apache recommends that you check "for All Users, on Port 80, as a Service". I however, prefer the "Current User, on Port 8080" option. In the Current User installation, Apache monitors are useless. If you get a "Windows Security Alert" about blocking incoming connections for Apache, click on "Unblock".

Starting/Stopping Apache
To start apache, go to Start --> All Programs --> Apache HTTP Server --> Start Apache in Console. A console window would open. This means your server has started. To stop the server, just close this console window.

Testing Apache
To test if your server is actually working, use your favorite browser to view http://127.0.0.1/ or http://localhost/ or http://localhost:8080/. If you see the Test Page for Apache Installation, your apache is installed and running on your system.

Configuration
If you chose "Current User, on Port 8080", you might want to do the following. Click on Start --> All Programs --> Apache HTTP Server --> Configure Apache Server --> Edit the Apache httpd.conf Configuration File. Use Notepad to edit this file. Find the line "Listen 8080" and change it to "Listen 80". This would allow you to type http://localhost/ instead of http://localhost:8080/.

Pointing Apache to your files
Inside the httpd.conf file, find the DocumentRoot which should be something like C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/htdocs and change it to c:/public_html or the preferred address of your working directory. Create the folder c:/public_html. Then scroll down about 20 lines and change to . Restart Apache.

Running your first file on Apache
Create the following HTML file on your notepad and save is as first.html at c:/public_html/.

apache points here: http://localhost/first.html - c:/public_html/first.html

Now go to your browser and type http://localhost/first.html or http://localhost:8080/first.html. Your should see your HTML file.
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