Hi Migustik,

You are using a version of XAMPP that is later than the one recommended in the book which is one of the cause of your problems.

Mercury is not necessary for Zen Cart to work on your local host so you may safely skip the steps in the book that talk about it.

Do download the PDF update from the book's site and go through it in order to minimize any future problems and to keep up with the latest Zen Cart changes. Sorry for the hassle.