Submitted by joshmiller (not verified) on Sun, 08/16/2009 - 05:47.
I can second the simple XAMPP setup:
1) Download XAMPP (use google to find this)
2) Install XAMPP
3) Turn on the Server
4) Navigate to localhost/phpmyadmin
5) Create database
6) Download Acquia's Zipped version of Drupal
7) Copy decompressed files inside the "htdocs" of the XAMPP application folder (you could create a folder if you like)
8) Access "localhost" or "localhost/newsubfolder"
9) Install Drupal
Nothing too complicated. Or you could use Acquia's Stack installer, though that has errored out on me once or twice.
I can second the simple XAMPP setup:
1) Download XAMPP (use google to find this)
2) Install XAMPP
3) Turn on the Server
4) Navigate to localhost/phpmyadmin
5) Create database
6) Download Acquia's Zipped version of Drupal
7) Copy decompressed files inside the "htdocs" of the XAMPP application folder (you could create a folder if you like)
8) Access "localhost" or "localhost/newsubfolder"
9) Install Drupal
Nothing too complicated. Or you could use Acquia's Stack installer, though that has errored out on me once or twice.