Transform a windows xp computer in a server

as Torimar mentioned You can use prepared all in one software which provides Apache, php, MySQL.

Also You could try on a more difficult way using IIS with PHP support. For installation instructions see here: http://www.plus2net.com/php_tutorial/php_iis_installation.php

You will also need to download (and install) MySQL Community  Edition server separately for free here: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

But how can I access the server.  I want to use my database app from another computer in my local network. What should I type as url in the adress bar?

in adress bar You should type Your server's  name (computer name) (ex. http://pc-01/) , or it's IP adress like: http://192.168.0.25

Also ports should be opened on any firewall You are using on server machine. For http - it is port No. 80; for https (secure http) - 443 port

There is a PHP / Windows Zone here at EE.  Ask a moderator to add your question to that zone.

- Install XAMPP or WAMP as I suggested above
- Run the XAMPP or WAMP control center application
- Make sure Apache is running
- In your browser's address bar, insert this URL: http://localhost
- You should see a XAMPP/WAMP greetings page with instructions on further configuration
- Go to another computer in the network
- In the browser address bar, insert either the network IP or the network name of the server
- You should see the same greetings page
- Back on the server, make sure MySQL is running
- Create a user and database as required by your database app
- Install your database app correctly to the web documents folder of your XAMPP/WAMP installation (either 'htdocs' or 'www')

Thank you for your answers!
I tried to write the computer name in the address bar(because the IP is dynamic) but I received a page with an error.

 
Err1.JPG

Were you at this stage:

- Go to another computer in the network
- In the browser address bar, insert either the network IP or the network name of the server
- You should see the same greetings page

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While inside your network, you need to use the internal network IP of the server machine. Type "ipconfig" in the command prompt to see it. It will most likely be of the form "192.xxx.xxx.xxx" and there is a good chance that it is not dynamic.

As to the 403 error:
- does the page display fine on the server when calling 'localhost'?
- is it the Xampp greetings page? There is security advice on this page in order to protect your installation. This is mostly for external web serving, but make sure you read, understood, and followed the advice as far as necessary.
- have you tried another browser (Firefox, Opera)?
- are any internet security suites or commercial anti-virus applications running on the server machine? Disable them for a test.

I just realized that XAMPP has grown into a huge suite of applications; there are much more programs included now than there used to be when I last installed it. I could imagine you were asked several questions while installing?
If so, and if with some of these questions you did not know what they meant, please post the contents of your httpd.conf file here; you will usually find it under the xampp folder in ....\apache\conf

Alternatively, a quick way to avoid these complications could be to install a WAMP suite that concentrates on just Apache, MySQL and PHP. Such a suite would be EasyPHP: http://www.easyphp.org
Their website is under maintenance at the moment of my posting, but the installer can be downloaded here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/quickeasyphp/

Before installing EasyPHP, make sure to completely uninstall XAMPP. Use "Add/Remove Software", then delete the XAMPP installation folder, then reboot. Only then go on to install Easyphp.

I'm sorry for having given you the more complicated option first, but I personally have been using XAMPP for many years, I am very pleased with it and I shall no doubt continue to use it.

torimar i think you are right. I think that the wamp server (apache)  is not configure properly. I attached to you the httpd.conf. Please can you tell me how can I configure wamp server!

Thank you!

torimar i think you are right. I think that the wamp server (apache)  is not configure properly. I attached to you the httpd.conf. Please can you tell me how can I configure wamp server!

Thank you!
httpd-conf.txt

Change this passage:

<Directory "c:/wamp/www/">
    #
    # Possible values for the Options directive are "None", "All",
    # or any combination of:
    #   Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks SymLinksifOwnerMatch ExecCGI MultiViews
    #
    # Note that "MultiViews" must be named *explicitly* --- "Options All"
    # doesn't give it to you.
    #
    # The Options directive is both complicated and important.  Please see
    # http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#options
    # for more information.
    #
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

    #
    # AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
    # It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
    #   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
    #
    AllowOverride all

    #
    # Controls who can get stuff from this server.
    #

#   onlineoffline tag - don't remove
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 127.0.0.1

</Directory>

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to:

<Directory "c:/wamp/www/">
    #
    # Possible values for the Options directive are "None", "All",
    # or any combination of:
    #   Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks SymLinksifOwnerMatch ExecCGI MultiViews
    #
    # Note that "MultiViews" must be named *explicitly* --- "Options All"
    # doesn't give it to you.
    #
    # The Options directive is both complicated and important.  Please see
    # http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#options
    # for more information.
    #
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

    #
    # AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
    # It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
    #   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
    #
    AllowOverride all

    #
    # Controls who can get stuff from this server.
    #

#   onlineoffline tag - don't remove
    Order Deny,Allow
    Allow from all

</Directory>

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The change is the Allow from all. That used to be restricted to localhost, so only the server itself could access its pages.

ps:

Once you made any changes to httpd.conf, Apache needs to be restarted in order for the changes to become effective.

Thank you for your support!

You are very welcome. Have fun with your new server.