XAMPP don't know how to restart

You don't need to scrap XAMPP over this issue. There are no missing or buggy .dlls in the newer versions that I know about. The control panel just has to be run as administrator in Vista or Windows 7.

Right click the control panel shortcut or .exe file icon. Click on properties. select the compatibility tab. then in the privliege level box at the bottom, check the "Run this program as an administrator" box.

Click apply and then load up XAMPP.

You can go to your xampp instalation directory, and run

xampp_stop.exe
xampp_start.exe

This will restart Apache and Mysql.

Only Apache: apache_stop.bat apache_start.bat

Or use the control panel, by clicking on Stop, then Restart, on the Apache line Service.

More info at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html#1173

In the version I am using, from the control panel just click the stop button for the given app and then the start button.