xampp MySQL does not start

I installed Xampp on Windows 7 32-bit. When I try to start MySql in XAMPP control panel (v3.2.1) I have the following message and MySql does not start.

23:02:03  [mysql]   Problem detected!
23:02:03  [mysql]   Port 3306 in use by ""C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\bin\mysqld" --defaults-file="C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\my.ini" MySQL"!
23:02:03  [mysql]   MySQL WILL NOT start without the configured ports free!
23:02:03  [mysql]   You need to uninstall/disable/reconfigure the blocking application
23:02:03  [mysql]   or reconfigure MySQL and the Control Panel to listen on a different port
23:02:03  [mysql]   Attempting to start MySQL service...

A similar problem was reported here but there is no working answer. When I try to install with MySql disabled, the result is that I even don't have an option even to try to run it.

I am new to Xampp and don't know where and what to look for to solve the issue

I need to run Apache and MySql with Php.

Solution 1:

You already have a version of mySQL installed on this machine that is using port 3306. Go into the most recent my.ini file and change the port to 3307. Restart the mySQL service and see if it comes up.

You also need to change port 3306 to 3307 in xampp\php\php.ini

Solution 2:

You have two versions of mysql using the same port 3306. Change the port by:

1. Stop the xampp server, if it is already running.
2. Edit the value to "port" in xampp/mysql/bin/my.ini

Here:

# The following options will be passed to all MySQL clients
[client]
Password = your_password   
port =  3306  #--->  3307  
socket =  "/ xampp / mysql / mysql.sock"

and also here:

The MySQL server 
[ mysqld ] 
port =  3306  #--->  3307 
socket =  "/ xampp / mysql / mysql.sock"
2. Start mysql service