in php.ini

disable these lines (please check on default ini file. only sendmail library should be active)

;SMTP = localhost
;smtp_port = 25

enable this line
;sendmail_path = "D:\Documents\websites\design\sendmail\sendmail.exe -t"

in sendmail.ini

(check default ini and update instructions)

the following were set and it works

smtp_server=mail.lancastrian-it.co.uk
 smtp_port=25
default_domain=lancastrian-it.co.uk

error_logfile=error.log
 debug_logfile=debug.log

The following are links to various tutorials on how to setup sending email from xampp which i used for research

• Sending email through php/sendmail (Win all) 1.7.7 [SOLVED]
• Configue sendmail for php mail() (Win7) 1.7.7 [SOLVED]
• How to send email from localhost(XAMPP or WAMP) in PHP in Windows
• How to send email from XAMPP (PHP)
• How to use sendmail in XAMPP for Windows
• How to use sendmail in XAMPP for Windows using AOL Mail
• Sending e-mail from localhost in PHP in Windows Environment
• Using E-mail with PHP in XAMPP for Windows
• XAMPP Sendmail using Gmail account
• Apache Friends Support Forum • View topic - Cant get sendmail to work