Newbie Questions - Can't Implement Local Test Install

[lexiskm]

Greetings,

Up until this morning, I had never heard of APACHE. My research into creating a login page for my web site led me to the following conclusion:
- since my hosting service supports only PHP and MySQL, I need to install and learn these
- in order to install and use PHP, I need to first install a server; APACHE

Someone stop me if I've already taken a wrong turn.

Ultimately my website will be hosted by a hosting service. For now, all I want to do is experiment and learn. I would like to be able to do everything locally on my PC.

I am using MS XP Pro, SP1. I downloaded and installed Apache 2.0.52 using the .msi installer. It seems to run ok but when I use my bowser to go to

http://127.0.0.1/

or

http://localhost/

I get a "The page cannot be displayed" error.

What was I supposed to enter when I was prompted to enter my Network Domain? (I entered the local IP address, 192.168.1.100)

What should I have entered for the server name?

I used the "all users" option. I figured, why not? Should I have used the current user only option?

I'll probably need more help after this, but I'm hoping once I get this right everything else will fall into place.

Thanks in advance,

 

[lexiskm]

I figured out what I was doing wrong:

I should have entered my IP with the port; i.e.
192.168.1.100:8080 in the Apache config file.

I also need to include the port number when I call up the page.

Same applies when I use the local host.

Sorry to trouble y'all.

I'll probably need you later for something less obvious.

Thanks anyway.