These instructions pertain to Windows XP and Apache Web Server installed with Xampp however it should work with other versions of windows as well. Some minor differences relating to Windows 2000 are highlighted, but not guaranteed to be complete. Windows Vista has additional security requirements that will be mentioned during installation.
The XAMPP download contains all the programs and packages that are required by Ampache.
Install Xampp and and install as services when asked to, this ensures that the the servers are started automatically when the system starts.
Pay attention to the security problems. Follow the xampp instructions on how to lock down the packages.
Test your installation by visiting http://localhost/
If you get a DNS error or any other error after visiting that link, there are issues that need to be resolved before you can continue.
MySQL by default has a blank root password. This needs to be changed for 2 reasons. First, it's a security vulnerability. Second, Ampache will not allow you to use it when creating your Ampache database. This is easily achieved, fortunately.
mysqladmin.exe -u root password enter_your_new_password_here
Continue on to the Ampache installation: http://ampache.org/wiki/install