Go to your original data folder (c:/xampp/mysql) and sort the files by 'type.' select the files that have the type info file and delete them (screenshot below). You will find all files that exists on htdocs folder. I just installed it on windows 8.
Moved (cut/paste) all the files in c:\xampp\mysql\data to desired backup location. After that copied all the files from c:\xampp\mysql\backup to c:\xampp\mysql\data step 3: Install new xampp copy your old database folder from xampp\mysql\data\databasefolder to paste in your running xampp folder c:\xampp\mysql\data after that stop mysql and apache service then backup your running xampp files ib_logfile0,ib_logfile1 and ibdata1 and store in safe place then copy same file.
When i press the start I looked for help here and here which basically says changed config.inc.php file in xampp\\phpmyadmin folder. After that stopped mysql and copied. I've just downloaded and installed xampp 5.6.11 and started all the tools from the control panel.
In windows 7 it started This worked for me, quit the xampp cut all files in c:\xampp\mysql\backup paste and replace files into c:\xampp\mysql\data run the xampp as administrator I am using xampp, version 3.2.1. I just followed the below steps step 1:
16:50:25 [apache] status change detected: Xampp open files named index as default files ( you can change that. Restarted mysql and checked the phpmyadmin url, it worked. Every time i need to go to the xampp control panel to start services (mysql, apache,.);
I have faced the same problem. I proposed to use incognito to avoid cookies problem. Apache is running just fine on port 80 and 443, but mysql is not starting. I've seen that one of it's new features is that it has a welcome/dashboard page.
Make sure you backup the mentioned folders before taking any action!