Magento 1.4.1.1 with xampp and IE: Installing Magento 1.4.1.1 and xampp and IE

“No” Edit:
1. app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Session/Abstract/Varien.php
2. C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

“Yes” Edit
3. Edit C:\xampp\php\php.ini
max_execution_time = 2260
max_input_time = 2260
memory_limit = 128M
extension=php_mcrypt.dll (un-comment)
extension=php_curl.dll (un-comment)

Hopefully this "guide" will have solved the problem with not being able to login into the Magento "Admin" page with Internet Explorer (IE)!

Requirements (or should I say my platform):

1. Windows 7
2. Opera (Yes, Opera just to login once), but maybe IE (8) will work for you on the first try!
3. xampp 1.7.3
4 . Magento Community Edition 1.4.1.1

Jumping into Section 3 (skipping 1 and 2 above)
3. xampp 1.7.3 for Windows from http://www.apachefriends.org/en/index.html
3.a. Easiest Apache, PHP, MySQL, etc. install ever
3.a.i. http://localhost
3.a.ii. http://localhost/phpmyadmin (manages MySQL databases)

3.b. "Important" Install Apache Self Signed Certificate (This maybe the solution for IE login) http://code.google.com/p/wpkgexpress/wiki/SelfSignedSSLCertificates
3.b.i. Run "xampp\apache\makecert.bat" to start the certificate creation process
3.b.ii. "Enter PEM pass phrase:" -- here just enter a good password that you won't forget (otherwise write it down)
3.b.iii. Follow the rest of the prompts until you get to the "Common Name" prompt.
3.b.iv. At the "Common Name" prompt, you must enter the hostname of the server machine. You can enter dyndns or similar hostnames here (for small servers for example).
3.b.v. At the "Enter pass phrase for privkey.pem" prompt, enter the same PEM pass phrase you created in step 1a.
3.b.vi. After that, if successful, the new certificate will be automatically copied to the "xampp\apache\conf\ssl.crt" directory.
3.b.vii. Restart Apache. The new self-signed SSL certificate should now be in use for https connections.
3.b.viii. One last note: if 10 years (changed from 1 year as of xampp v1.7.0 pl1 beta5 (Feb 2009)) from the current date is not a sufficient expiration date for your self-signed certificate, you can change the number of days from today it will expire by editing makecert.bat and changing the numerical argument for the "-days" parameter contained within.

3.c. Add/Import the certificate on each local (client) computer which will be executing wpkg.js. This can be done two ways.
Option 1 (good for small numbers of clients or local testing):
3.c. i. Open IE's Internet Options menu (or Internet Options in the Control Panel)
3.c.ii. Select the "Content" tab and click "Certificates..."
3.c.iii Click "Import", "Next->", and then "Browse" and select your server.crt in the "xampp\apache\conf\ssl.crt" directory or other path if you have copied it elsewhere.
3.c.iv. Ensure "Place all certificates in the following store" is selected, click "Browse...", select "Trusted Root Certification Authorities", click "OK", "Next->", and "Finish".
3.c.v. Close out the "Certificates" and "Internet Options" windows and you're done.

4 . Magento Community Edition 1.4.1.1 (make sure Apache and MySQL are running)
4.a. Download from http://www.magentocommerce.com/download “Sample Data”. I found it easier to do it this way, even though Magento installer will update it with new data from magento.com

4.a.i. Create a new database called magento using phpmyadmin
4.a.ii. use phpmyadmin to import the downloaded “Sample Data” (5 minutes IT TAKES A WHILE BE PATIENT, DON”T LOCK YOUR INTERNET EXPLORER BROWSER)

4.b. Download magento from http://www.magentocommerce.com/download
4.b.i. Extract to C:\xampp\htdocs

4.c. Start the install process
4.c.i. Open IE
4.c.ii. Point IE to http://localhost/magento (installer starts automatically)

(5 minutes IT TAKES A WHILE BE PATIENT, DON”T LOCK YOUR INTERNET EXPLORER BROWSER)
Tip: you are able to see status via phpmyadmin. take a look at the database count increasing automatically while the install process takes place.

2. Use Opera to do your first login and make two changes
2.a. Accept the dialog Certificate pop-up window (This is where IE has issues, it is of different encryption, I think)
2.a. https://127.0.0.1/magento/admin (NOTE HTTPS)
2.a.i. name = admin default password = 123123
2.a.ii. If your attempting to skip Opera and use IE then remember to login twice with same credentials

2.b. Edit settings in Magento
2.b.i. Goto System  Configuration
Goto Web  and edit the following two fields

Logoff if using Opera!
Final Test:
5. Login in with IE “TWICE”
5.a. https://127.0.0.1/magento/admin
5.a.i. name = admin default password = 123123
5.a.ii. name = admin default password = 123123
5.b. Import Image (File) to see if you get "no" errors: