hapzfl on "Cannot access my MySQL server in Win8"

Thanks for your prompt reply. I was partially successful after uninstalling the stand alone version of MySQL. At least I was able to
access the database via phpAdmin; but Wordpress still would not run.

I finally gave up and uninstalled everything associated with XAMP.That was necessary tosucceed with the next step:

Downloading and installing the MS Web Platform Installer. Using the MS Web Matrix I now have Wordpress running successfully and locally under Win8.