PHP on Windows with XAMPP running 100 times too slow

Question

PHP runs so slowly on my Windows desktop that phpMyAdmin takes minutes to open a database. Here’s a comparison of the time to run a simple PHP test program:

Windows 8.1 machine running XAMPP: 3597 ms
iPage shared hosting: 65 ms
A2Hosting shared hosting: 26 ms

Here’s the test program…

<?php
$rStartTime = microtime(true);
$countTo = 100000;
$a = 0;
//$countTo = $countTo * 100;
for ($x = 0; $x <= $countTo; $x++) {
    $a = sqrt(pow($x, 2));
}
$rMs = floor((microtime(true) - $rStartTime) * 1000);
echo 'timer done, countTo=' . $a . ' ms=' . $rMs;

The test program is run without debugging, by entering "http://localhost/timer.php" into Firefox.

The local machine is normally blazing fast. It’s running…

Windows 8.1
XAMPP 1.8.3 (control panel v3.2.1)
Apache 2.4.4 (latest is 2.4.20)
PHP 5.5.3
Antimalware = Windows Defender
IDE = PHPStorm 10.0.2

What's making PHP run so slowly?

CaptureWiz · Answer 1 · 2016-04-21T04:23:11.177

33

I found the problem was Xdebug in xampp\php\php.ini. Here're the results of trying many solutions found around the web:

Run XAMPP as adminisrator and restart server: 3617 ms

In xampp/apache/conf/httpd.conf, replace localhost with 127.0.0.1 and restart server: 3639 ms

In Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts, add “127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1” & “127.0.0.1 localhost” and restart Windows: 3960 ms

In Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts, un-comment “127.0.0.1 localhost” and restart Windows: 3659 ms

In php.ini, uncomment zend_extension = "C:\xampp\php\ext\php_eaccelerator_ts.dll" and restart server: 3643 ms

In php.ini, set xdebug.remote_enable=0: 3598 ms

In php.ini, set remote_host="localhost": 3593 ms

In php.ini, set xdebug.profiler_enable=0: 249 ms

In php.ini, comment out all Xdebug statements: 27 ms - Success!

The sad part is, I make mistakes and need Xdebug :-(

edited Apr 21 '16 at 04:23

answered Apr 20 '16 at 20:16

CaptureWiz

1,685
1
15
15

3

Can you solve this problem with Xdebug activated? I have the same trouble. – rck6982 Jul 04 '16 at 01:45
Wish I could. Instead I wrote a Delphi program that switches between two php.ini files, one with debugging (called debugPhp.ini) and one without (called fastPhp.ini). – CaptureWiz Jul 05 '16 at 16:51
I don't seem to have any sort of Xdebug options in here. I'm guessing XAMPP doesn't come with Xdebug by default and my own bottleneck is somewhere else? – DaVince Feb 23 '17 at 12:42
My XAMPP 3.2.1 came with a php.ini file that had an [XDebug] section at the bottom. – CaptureWiz Feb 25 '17 at 06:34
1

No such a thing on xampp. – Michael Rogers Apr 09 '17 at 22:29
Yeah, no mention of XDebug anywhere in php.ini for XAMPP. Seems it doesn't come with it anymore. – thephpdev Oct 17 '18 at 09:20
@CaptureWiz PHP itself has two versions of `php.ini`, a **development** (debug) and a **production** (fast and optimised) one. – David Refoua Nov 09 '18 at 16:50
Thanks for the investigation. Xdebug was certainly the cause. I fixed _my_ issue by setting `xdebug.remote_autostart = 0` instead of completely disabling Xdebug. – David Refoua Nov 09 '18 at 16:52
There is no such element inside php.ini file :|. – Davoud Oct 19 '20 at 07:47

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 12 '17 at 16:30

11

I solve my problem with xdebug idekey setting (xdebug.idekey="xdebug1"), and chrome extension xdebug helper (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/xdebug-helper/eadndfjplgieldjbigjakmdgkmoaaaoc)

*Dont forget to disable remote_autostart (xdebug.remote_autostart=0)

Only activating debug (xdebug) by request, using idekey setting, so if debug not needed php processing can be faster/normal, tonggle by button with chrome extension

I'm using xampp 1.8.3 on windows 10 64bit, i use custom idekey, xdebug.idekey="xdebug1", same with xdebug helper setting

[XDebug]
zend_extension = "E:\xampp183\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll"
xdebug.profiler_append = 0
xdebug.profiler_enable = 1
xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger = 0
xdebug.profiler_output_dir = "E:\xampp183\tmp"
xdebug.profiler_output_name = "cachegrind.out.%t-%s"
xdebug.remote_enable = 1
xdebug.remote_autostart=0
xdebug.idekey="xdebug1"
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
xdebug.remote_host = "127.0.0.1"
xdebug.trace_output_dir = "E:\xampp183\tmp"
xdebug.remote_log="E:\xampp183\tmp\xdebug\xdebug.log"

Now breakpoint/debug activated only if session is requsted via xdebug helper

answered Apr 12 '17 at 16:30

Nuha Dzikri

570
1
7
11

Thanks Dzikri for this imaginative and nicely detailed solution! I tested it and it did indeed speed things up 2X! But even with your tip, php ran slow :-( Normal time = 3597ms. With Dzikri tip, time reduced to 1482ms with debugging off, 1478 with debugging on (strangely faster!?). But by commenting out the Xdebug section in php.ini, the time is reduced to 27ms. – CaptureWiz Apr 14 '17 at 19:11
glad to help, maybe different local settings, different pc specs, so the result are variative, in my case, it can speed up to 90% if compared to letting xdebug autostart=on – Nuha Dzikri Apr 15 '17 at 12:41
1

This sped up my connection time on localhost from some 10-30 seconds to 2-4 seconds, which is a huge improvement, thanks! – Sean Kendle Feb 12 '21 at 16:09
one more, if you don't need profiling, make sure to turn off the the setting, can cause huge slowdown xdebug.profiler_enable = 0 xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger = 0 – Nuha Dzikri Feb 13 '21 at 03:50
In Xdebug 3, `xdebug.remote_autostart=0` becomes `xdebug.start_with_request=no` – KalenGi Mar 19 '23 at 09:06

score 10 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 06 '17 at 19:54

10

I excluded my website folder and my xampp folder in Windows Defender and things were solved here.

edited Apr 06 '17 at 19:54

Sebas

21,192
9
55
109

answered Apr 06 '17 at 10:58

Carsten Wartmann

201
2
6

Thanks Carsten, that was a great idea I hadn't thought of! I tested it and it did indeed speed things up 2X! But even with your tip, it was slow :-( Normal time = 3597ms. With Carsten tip = 1509ms. Comment out Xdebug: 27ms. – CaptureWiz Apr 07 '17 at 13:15
Can you briefly explain how this is accomplished? – ju_ Oct 30 '17 at 18:24
1

Open Defender and go to Preferences/Settings ("Einstellungen" I use a german version here) and then excluded Files/Folders and there use the button to get a file dialog where you can point to your Files/Folders – Carsten Wartmann Nov 01 '17 at 09:27
I have tried everything but only this one worked. Thank you, man! You are a life saver. I excluded the entire xampp folder and page loading time reduced to < 1 sec from 15-20 sec. – Pankaj May 01 '19 at 14:09

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 13 '17 at 21:23

2

I Had the same problem with xampp, and the problem was WINDOWS DEFENDER, if you disable the windows defender protection, xampp is faster (normal speed), Also you can search the xampp folder as exlusion in windows defender. these is the solution.

answered Nov 13 '17 at 21:23

ALEX MAURICIO HENAO HERNANDEZ

21
1

confirmed on Windows 10 Pro. Composer update on magento 2 went from 93 to 32s – Paul Bönisch Nov 25 '17 at 13:12
Thanks, but Carsten already suggested this back in April 2017, see above. That fix gives a 2X improvement, but PHP still ran 50 times slower than it runs without Xdebug. – CaptureWiz Dec 05 '17 at 02:54
2

But what are the exact steps to disable xampp for windows defender? This answer doesn't tell me. – warmwhisky Nov 30 '18 at 14:30
2

But what are the exact steps to disable xampp for windows defender? This answer doesn't tell me. – warmwhisky Nov 30 '18 at 14:32

Dakusan · Answer 5 · 2022-11-03T10:13:10.723

1

Running the TS (Thread Safe) version of php can slow things down a lot. TS is generally never needed, so use a NTS (Non-Thread Safe) version of php.

[Edit addition, stolen from Quora] Thread Safe (TS) and Non-Thread Safe (TS) are the two different PHP builds available.

Thread-safety ensures that when the shared data structure is manipulated by different threads, it is free from race conditions. This version is recommended where the web server run multiple threads of execution simultaneously for different requests.

For example, in Apache server, if we use mod_php as worker MPM, thread-safe version should be used.

Non-thread-safe version on the other hand is used where PHP is installed as a CGI binary. Here every request is handled separately which removes the need of thread-safe version. Moreover, using thread-safe version here degrade the performance due to unnecessary checks for thread safety. Servers like IIS & NGINX do not need thread safe versions.

edited Nov 03 '22 at 10:13

answered Oct 29 '22 at 21:30

Dakusan

6,504
5
32
45

That's a fabulous idea that nobody else has mentioned, thanks! How does one run the thread safe version? – CaptureWiz Nov 01 '22 at 23:09
If you are compiling PHP yourself, I believe the flag is either --enable-zts OR --enable-maintainer-zts, depending on your PHP version. If you are just downloading the binaries, you can choose which version. For example, for windows, the downloads are at https://windows.php.net/download/ . And on that page, it specifies if the version you are downloading is TS or NTS. – Dakusan Nov 03 '22 at 10:18
Thanks Dakusan, I'll test your suggestion when I get back to programming PHP, which won't be for a few months. – CaptureWiz Nov 04 '22 at 20:33

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 20 '17 at 14:03

0

I figured out that Eclipse did not end a XDebug session properly. I solved the problem by restarting the debug session and ending it properly.

edited Aug 20 '17 at 14:03

Cody Gray - on strike

239,200
50
490
574

answered Aug 20 '17 at 12:32

Zudi

1
3

How did you restart and end the XDebug session properly? – CaptureWiz Oct 03 '17 at 14:40
I guess I closed Eclipse without ending the XDebug session, which means I did not click the red box (terminate) in the menu. When I opened phpMyAdmin the next day it was slow a.f. Reopening Eclipse, starting a debug session and ending it properly by clicking the red box icon solved the problem. Since then I normally open phpMyAdmin in a different browser (chrome) than I do the debugging (Firefox) – Zudi Oct 04 '17 at 15:34

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 07 '17 at 12:30

0

for me has been an improvement after changing all of above to change from https://localhost to https://127.0.0.1

answered Nov 07 '17 at 12:30

Daniel D

79
1
4

1

This is not a good idea considering if you are using absolute routes – Fernando Torres Mar 25 '19 at 04:13

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 12 '19 at 22:10

0

For chrome users: I found out (after trying all hints above) that the Chrome extension "Evernote Web Clipper" is also slowing down chrome. When loading a plain URL without any includes: enabled / disabled Evernote Web Clipper: 0,7ms / 0,25ms

answered Feb 12 '19 at 22:10

Fuxi

7,611
25
93
139

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 22 '20 at 04:24

0

For me, mcAfee Web boost extension was the Blocker. I removed the extension and now it speeds up by 90%

answered Jun 22 '20 at 04:24

Neenu Chandran

722
1
6
18

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 11 '21 at 12:33

0

If you are using mysql db within your PHP script, pls check your db connection config.

Use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost in case of db host on windows (10).

answered Mar 11 '21 at 12:33

qwaevisz

1

Thanks, but no database modification can fix the underlying slowness of PHP. MySQL runs slow just like every other PHP program. In the speed tests above, I tried changing localhost to 127.0.0.1 in various other places, such as php.ini, and sadly, it never helped much. – CaptureWiz Mar 16 '21 at 03:27
I was facing very similar issues recently, and I also tried several tips and 'tricks'. The 'final' or current result (avg php script exection time) is not as bad (~usable for dev purpose), but still not as fast as it could be. Set the mysqli connection settings (localhost to 127.0.0.1) resulted about ten times acceleration. I also modified the 'ServerName' of the Apache httpd, modified the virtual hosts, etc, furthermore I turned of the IPv6 (network adapter settings), turned of/add exceptions for the Win Defender, but all of these amendments meant almost nothing. – qwaevisz Mar 17 '21 at 07:13

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Mar 19 '23 at 10:16

In case you are working with Xdebug 3 on Windows 10, you can build off the solution by Nuha Dzikri:

Setup Xdebug Helper as described
I'm not using profiling, so I left out the related config options (xdebug.profiler_*)
Replace the following config options:

Xdebug 2

xdebug.remote_enable = 1
xdebug.remote_autostart=0
xdebug.idekey="xdebug1"
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
xdebug.remote_host = "127.0.0.1"

with:

xdebug.mode = debug
xdebug.start_with_request = trigger
xdebug.idekey="xdebug1" #ineffective in trigger mode, but no harm leaving it in place
xdebug.trigger_value = "xdebug1" #works with start_with_request = trigger
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
xdebug.client_host = "127.0.0.1"
xdebug.client_port = 9003 # or 9000 if you want to continue using the legacy port

Refer to Upgrading from Xdebug 2 to 3 to replace other legacy config settings

I also excluded the C:\xampp folder from Windows Defender as suggested by Carsten Wartmann:

Start > Type "security" > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings > Exclusions > Add or remove exclusions > Add an exclusion > Folder > C:\xampp

Thanks KalenGi, that's great info! Could you please run the test program above to see how fast PHP runs with Xdebug 3? — CaptureWiz, Mar 21 '23 at 00:33

score -1 · Answer 12 · answered Oct 02 '17 at 08:56

-1

Solved php - WAMP/XAMPP is responding very slow over localhost / wordpress

The easiest way is that go to c dirive > xamp > php folder > search php.ini > clink on top then find max_execution_time anset it to max_execution_time=300 > now restart xamp > all done :)

max_execution_time=300

answered Oct 02 '17 at 08:56

Ashar Zafar

382
2
11

Thanks, but while this may have solved your problem, it didn't solve mine. I had already increased max_execution_time from the default value of 30 sec to 10 hours (36000 sec), and PHP still ran terribly slow. – CaptureWiz Oct 03 '17 at 14:29
set max_execution_time=300 maybe your site cache issue i set max_execution_time=300 it's working fine – Ashar Zafar Oct 04 '17 at 07:26

PHP on Windows with XAMPP running 100 times too slow

12 Answers12

Linked