WampServer

I have had problems installing WAMP Server before - see Call to undefined function in phpmyadmin.

I decided to start over again and uninstalled WAMP and deleted any WAMP directory. For fresh install I tried using the 32-bit version (previously I had installed the 64-bit version. My PC is Windows 7 64-bit).

At the end of installation when I click on Finish to start the program I get the error message (php-win.exe dialogue box):-

"The program can't start because php_mbstring.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem."

I tried reinstalling WAMP but get exactly the same error message. Perversely, WAMP starts up OK and turns green and I can get to the Home Page.

However, when I click on phpmyadmin I get error message:
Fatal error: Call to undefined function mb_detect_encoding() in C:\wamp\apps\phpmyadmin4.1.14\libraries\php-gettext\gettext.inc on line 177.
This is exactly what I had before except I wasn't getting the warning error about php_mbstring.dll being missing.

I can find this 'missing' dll on my PC in:
C:\wamp\bin\php\php5.5.12\ext

Puzzled as to what is going wrong!

Have you previously attempted to install PHP manually i.e. not using WAMPServer?

If so it would be best to make sure that version is properly and completely uninstalled.


Also try this:-
Run wampmanager -> localhost
then click the phpinfo() link on that page.

Check this setting reported near the top of the phpinfo() report page

Loaded Configuration File]

It should be pointing to your C:\wamp\bin\php\php5.5.12\phpForApache.ini

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Windows 10 Pro 64bit) (Wampserver 3.3.4 64bit) Aestan Tray Menu 3.2.5.4
<Apache versions MULTIPE> <PHP versions MULTIPLE> <MySQL Versions MULTIPLE>
<MariaDB versions MULTIPLE> <phpMyAdmin versions MULTIPLE> <MySQL Workbench 8.0.23>
Read The Manuals Apache -- MySQL -- PHP -- phpMyAdmin
Get your Apache/MySQL/mariaDB/PHP ADDONs here from the WAMPServer alternate Repo
-X-X-X- Backup your databases regularly Here is How dont regret it later! Yes even when developing -X-X-X-

Thanks for the information.

I did find an old copy of PHP installed on my PC (completely forgotten I used some years ago!) which I removed using the Windows uninstall program.

I reinstalled WAMP afterwards but problem still exists. The loaded configuration file is wrong. It is showing as pointing towards C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP\php.ini.

How do I go about changing this setting?

Check your registry for the items mentioned in this page of the PHP Manual - The configuration File

In a wampserver install there are no registry setting required except for the one item that tells windows how to uninstall wamp.

If any of the registry settings mentioned in the linked to page are set, delete them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Windows 10 Pro 64bit) (Wampserver 3.3.4 64bit) Aestan Tray Menu 3.2.5.4
<Apache versions MULTIPE> <PHP versions MULTIPLE> <MySQL Versions MULTIPLE>
<MariaDB versions MULTIPLE> <phpMyAdmin versions MULTIPLE> <MySQL Workbench 8.0.23>
Read The Manuals Apache -- MySQL -- PHP -- phpMyAdmin
Get your Apache/MySQL/mariaDB/PHP ADDONs here from the WAMPServer alternate Repo
-X-X-X- Backup your databases regularly Here is How dont regret it later! Yes even when developing -X-X-X-

Solved - thanks for your help.

I inspected registry settings but there were none for PHP.

However, I searched C: Drive and found an old version of php.ini that hadn't been removed by the uninstallation of old PHP program. Deleted this file and all references to it and I can now start to use the WAMP Server.