This tutorial describes how to setup Apache on Windows (tested with Apache 2.0.58 on Windows XP Professional).
Note that this tutorial does NOT include how to setup a SSL-based web server (i.e. https), so it is not recommended for production use.
Install
Download the precompiled Windows version of Apache from http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/.
Select the apache_XXX-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi you would like to use (at the time of this writing, the available versions are 1.3.35, 2.0.58, and 2.2.2).
Double-click the downloaded .msi file as any other installation procedure, just fill in the domain name, server name and your email address.
On Windows, the installation creates a short cut in the Start Menu to Apache, both to configuration, control, and documentation.
Troubleshoot
On Windows XP Professional, I got a couple of Command Prompt popup windows during the installation, showing the following error message:
(OS 10048)Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted. :
make_sock: could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:80
no listening sockets available, shutting down
When I tried to restart Apache (using the Start Menu shortcut), I got the following error message:
No installed service named "Apache2"
Fix for this problem:
Modify httpd.conf (accessible from the Start Menu shortcut):
Change the line Listen 80
to Listen 127.0.0.1:80
Install the Apache2 service manually from the command prompt:
This should be sufficient to get Apache up and running on Windows.
Just configure Apache as you do on any UNIX system, that is, edit the httpd.conf file.