Why can't I start WampServer in Windows 2003 server sp2? - wampserver

Question

here is a problem I meet. I download and installed WampServer, it could not be started. After clicking, it started without any error message but ended immediately because
there was an WampServer icon in the right-down corner (just besides input icon and time) and disappeared within less than 1 second automatically. No process of wamp can be found when using ctrl+alt+del.
I suppose there is no problem in wampserver software itself since it can be installed in other computers successfully. Previous searching indicated I need to install visual C++ 2008 and 2010 but it seems still the same.
I am going crazy about this for a few days. Many thanks for you if there can be any suggestion or some similar cases.

Answer 1

Please make sure you have the latest version of all of these Microsoft C/C++ Redistributable runtime libraries. You dont need the whole compiler, just these C/C++ runtime libraries.
The 2008 Redist (32bit) is used by wampmanager even if you installed the 64bit WAMPServer.
The 2010 Redist is used by some versions of Apache ( depending on compiler used ).
The 2012 Redist is used by some versions of Apache ( depending on compiler used ).
FOR WAMP 32bit
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)
If you are using WampServer2.4/2.5 32bit and therefore Apache 2.4.x
Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 is required
And select vcredist_x86.exe
FOR WAMP 64bit
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)
>> Yes you need the x86 Package regardless as wampmanager uses this <<
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x64)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x64)
If you are using WampServer2.4/2.5 64bit
Microsoft Visual C++ 2012
And select vcredist_x64.exe

Answer 2

the authors state directly on the download page (http://www.wampserver.com/en/):
Wampserver 2.5 is not compatible with Windows XP, neither with SP3,
nor Windows Server 2003
When I tried it, during the install I get the odd, cryptic error popups such as "bin\apache\apache2.4.9\bin\httpd.exe is not a valid Win32 application".
I would recommend doing the manual approach for Win2K3 platforms - sure it's a lot more work, but you can follow an excellent, precise step-by-step recipe here:
http://www.ricocheting.com/how-to-install-on-windows/apache
I've done this approach a dozen times with no complications. If you've never done the "old school way" before, it's a good learning experience. And it would probably be a lot faster overall than struggling with trying to get WampServer working on Win2K3 OS.
Note that in both cases, you'll still need to first install VC 2008 redistributable package (as mentioned above).