Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

by Jim Huether -
Number of replies: 6

I've tried to install the latest Moodle 1.9x from the moodle.org site to my Windows 7 PC, and it doesn't work!

I'm not a PHP programmer, so I'm looking for an installation procedure that works! That is, a step by step process that will load and install moodle on my PC so I can use it as a sandbox to play around with things.

I have looked at a number of the forum discussion where people had problems installing moodle on Windows 7, and I don't see any of them where it seems it was successful. Several people have actually suggested solutions for Windows Vista instead of Windows 7. Does Moodle not work on Windows 7?

If anyone has a tried and true way to load and install moodle on Windows 7 to where it works (including apache and SQL and PHP of course), please, please let me know how. I am not a PHP programmer, so solutions that require changing parameters in files or modifying PHP code won't work for me. (For example I have read one solution that talks about conflicts with port 80, however it seems the installation should check whether port 80 is in use, and use another port if so. I don't feel comfortable trying to change which port Moodle uses)

I will greatly appreciate an answer that works.

James

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In reply to Jim Huether

Re: Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

by Peter Allen -

Hi Jim

I'm definately no expert, but I installed onto my Windows7 pc at home and it works. I had a couple of issues:

1 - when I restarted my pc next day I had lost my moodle index, nothing would show and to cut a long story short, I deleted the whole moodle folder and reinstalled and it works OK now.

2 - When I start XAMPP it tries to start moodle and says 'Nothing to do', but then starts the XAMPP server and it works fine, I don't stop the server or moodle when I finish.

3 - I opened Skype and there is an option there to change the Port to an alternative named Port and I just changed to the recommended Port and OKéd it.

In short it all works OK now and I installed about 6 weeks ago.

I hope this little bit of info helps.

ps I just followed the installation instructions in the downloaded files.

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In reply to Jim Huether

Re: Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

by Dan Marsden -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Plugins guardians Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

here's the easiest installer for windows machines:
http://www.microsoft.com/web/gallery/Moodle.aspx

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In reply to Dan Marsden

Re: Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

by Jim Huether -

Dan, thanks. That actually worked.

It was a bit scary accepting license agreements for not only the Microsoft stuff, but also for the third party apps included.

Then I had to put in a few passwords for MySQL, DB Admin and DB user. Then on the last page of the installer, before selecting Finish, I found I had to click on Launch Moodle.

Then it came up at http://localhost/moodle and I had to click through a few screens and then click on "Continue" for a bunch of screens. But then it came up allowing me to set my profile and some front page stuff, and then boom, I had a moodle application running on my own PC.

I don't know if maintaining this with upgrades or trying to upgrade to Moodle 2.0 will be a problem or not, but at least the install worked and I didn't have to add any missing files or modify data in other files.

Thanks very much.

James

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In reply to Jim Huether

Re: Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

by Dan Marsden -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Plugins guardians Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

..and if you read the fine print of the licencing agreements you'll notice that any content you develop is now owned by Microsoft evil

..kidding tongueout

good to hear you've got it sorted - that installer gives a good base for you to use - upgrading to 2.0 manually shouldn't be a problem - I'm not sure if you can upgrade using the gallery site and selecting 2.0 (when it gets released there) - but you can definitely upgrade using the normal manual procedures.

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In reply to Dan Marsden

Re: Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

by Purity Githembe -

hI,

I know this post is about Windows 7, but I have an issue with my Moodle. I installed on my laptop with Vista, and everything went smoothly. I even created a class and uploaded some files. I then tried to access the files (or do something else) and it suddenly told me, "Unable to connect:Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at localhost." I havent been able to access my site ever since. I even deleted the Moodle Files and reinstalled (which was probably a bad idea??). I am not sure I know how to jiggle and juggle this moodle thing, just on my computer. I was hoping not to have to pay for hosting. Any ideas?

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In reply to Purity Githembe

Re: Windows server: Moodle doesn't work on Windows 7

by ben reynolds -

Hi,

Anything you do on your personal computer won't work as a server for multiple users. On your pc, you are just experimenting with Moodle to see what it does. So, not paying for hosting isn't relevant if you want a Moodle for more than just yourself.

You should read the documentation for installing on Windows, starting here http://docs.moodle.org/en/Windows_installation and then look around at some of ther other Windows documentation & forums. There's also Installing Moodle on Windows Vista

My problems accessing localhost were mostly because, at startup, I used one of my router's internal IP numbers instead of 127.0.0.1 and, of course, the next time I went to start up Moodle, Firefox was looking for the router's IP # instead of the usual local host number.

The documentation tells you (somewhere) how to get into the config files to change the IP number.

Alternatively, you might just delete the whole thing and go with Bitnami MoodleStack of the Microsoft version of Moodle.

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