apache on windows - page cannot be displayed :(

Hello everyone, I'm the new chick Samantha. I just had a quick question that l was hoping one of you more seasoned vets would be able to assist me with. I recently installed apache on my windows XP system. Everything went pretty smoothly ~ so far.
Here's the problem, when l attempt to access the "web page" from the PC that apache is installed on via the IP address of the computer, l get the page, and all the documents just fine. Everything is running great. PHP, Perl, and mySQL is up and running as well.

However (here's the problem l can't seem to find an anwser to while googling like a crazy-girl)...
When l hop on my friends PC to test it, l get a "page cannot be displayed" error.

I tried it with the IP address:
http://1.2.3.4
I tried it with the port:
http://1.2.3.4:80
The IP address that l am able to access the "local site" on my computer with is what l got from using ipconfig/all.

Both with, and without my personal firewall turned on (which is zone alarm pro).
and all l'm getting is a "page cannot be found" error :/
This is driving me crazy, as you can image. I was hoping someone around here would be able to assist me with this. The PC that has apache running on it, is going through a linksys router ~ l thought maybe that might be blocking outside requests, but after looking at some of the settings on the router l couldn't make head nor nail of what would need to be configured.
If anyone could take a few minutes out of their time to assist me with this, l'd be greatly appriciative.

Thanks for your time!

Samantha G.

Just a quick followup. I tried unplugging the Apache PC from the router, and had it connected directly to the internet via the cable modem, shut down my zone alarm firewall and tested again - but got the same results. On the PC with apache the local site shows up fine, but from another PC the user just gets "page cannot be displayed"....

So it doesn't seem like it's the router causing the problem.

Samantha Gram.

So if you try http://localhost or http://127.0.0.1 on the Apache PC, it works... correct?
but when you try from your friend's PC (outside the house?), it doesn't work...

You have a software firewall [Zone Alarm] installed and your Apache PC connects to the internet through a router...

Here's my diagnosis... =)

The IP address you are getting from ipconfig is actually just your network address... It will work on all computers connected to your router, however anything outside your router [like your friend's computer], that network IP address won't work...

This, I presume, is half your problem...

The other half is often the router itself. Most modern routers have a firewall built in. You don't want to disable the router's firewall, but rather tell the router when internet traffic comes to port 80 [the default webserver port], direct it to your Windows computer [with apache on it]... This process is different for most routers... usually reading your router's documentation helps you do this a bit...

Most routers allow configuration through a web environment... Personally, I access the Gateway address from my web browser, enter a user/password, and configure my stuff there. You can often find your external IP in the router's web configuration as well.

In conclusion, you need to find out your external IP address and tell your router to forward the port to your PC.

Hi, I am also a newby with apache and web servers,
I installed apache on a Windows XP, and I can access everything from my lan, but I cant see the web pages from outside. I enabled the dmz on my router to the machine running apache, therefore I reckon that any request with my wan ip address should be redirect to that machine, but IT DOESN'T WORKS

do I need to change anything in the apache config file??


any help will be extremely appreciated

Samantha, the answer to your question is quite simple. your connection seems to work only, on your network. for example, let's say your network is named "test" only those on the "test" network can access the site.

outsiders will not be able to access the site, due to the fact that your machine, does not have the required software needed to let the outside public view your site.

did i make any sense to you?

andreshs1:

This varies depending on the router.
Most routers have a port forwarding option that you need to configure.
Basically tell the router that all calls to port 80 should be directed to your machine.

[this is also a more direct answer to Samantha's question above]

I have been running Apache on an XP machine for months with no problems.

I did have to shut down Zone Alarm, but after that, everything worked fine.

I did a few Windows updates recently and it seems like that has triggered the problem.

The web page displays properly from my pc (or any PC on my network) using the domain name or the public IP address.
(I have a /29 static IP range at my house, no router just a switch to my dsl, all of my PCs have a static public IP address)
but the page does not display when I am off my network.

I have not yet found a solution. My ZoneAlarm is off and Apache is listed as an allowed application
in my Windows firewall.

????? any ideas, it must be related to

Is it possible one of the updates was to service pack 2?

You might have unknowingly enabled the Windows firewall.

she might have blocked apache by accident, using the windows fiirewall.

Not sure if it was related, but I was getting strange messages about "new hardware" when I would boot up.

after I cleaned that up, My site was accessible from off my network. My problem seemed to be spyware or virus related.

do you know exactly what it was?

maybe when configuring windows network u didnt tell windows that u will be using it as a server and also for web server...
another suggestion is for example i have a PPPoE connection over LAN if u entered in the apache conf file the IP of ur LAN, not the PPPoE IP, LAN 62.73.114.174, PPPoE 212.116.140.79. if u open an explorer and enter LAN IP u'll get nothing but if u enter the other ip u'll get something like an ftp connection...
at least this is what i get

something like this :

click on it for larger pic

Hi Folks, I'm having pretty much the same issue here and cant seem to figure it out.
I've successfully installed Apache, PHP, and MySQL onto my XP machine and can access it on any computer on the LAN including the one with Apache installed, but not from an outside machine. I found out my ISP blocks port 80 so configured the httpd.conf file to Listen to port 3000. I also set my dlink di-514's firewall to forward all WAN-side port 3000 requests to my static dhcp ip.
What I couldn't do is set the httpd file to Listen to http://<WAN-IP>:3000. When I restart Apache after trying it, I get this error:
-----------
The Apache service could not be started

The service did not report an error

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3534
-----------

Typing NET HELPMSG 3534 gives me:
-----------
The service did not report an error
-----------

I tried setting BindAddress <WAN-ip>:3000 and ServerName http://<WAN-ip>:3000; which doesn't seem to help me.

What am I doing wrong? Please help.

A simple solution could be to have your router forward a request on port 3000 to your machine on port 80.
I think most routers have this as option.

Otherwise, have you tried the Listen directive?

I have set up a virtual server on my router with the public port being 3000, the private port being 80, and the private IP being the static DHCP IP belonging to the machine with Apache installed. So it should take all port 3000 requests from the WAN side and forward them to port 80 on the Apache machine.
Also, I have the Listen Directive set to 80 and 3000.

Still, I cannot access the site from a computer outside of the LAN.

Hey Samantha,
Your port maybe blocked by your ISP, many ISPs block port 80. You can test this by changing the port in your apache conf. file, change it to port 81.

If you have also added multiple domain names to your conf. file may also trigger the same problem if not set up correctly.

This problem does not have anything to do with your router or your firewall, if neither are connected then they are dismissed. Many people will make you chase goblins in 3rd party software, I feel you have already eliminated these and these people are still trying to blame them.

Have a look at your apache settings themself!!