php.ini has no effect? (XAMPP)

Question

I can't seem to increase the max_execution_time variable in Apache. I found php.ini in xampp/php and increased the variable, (tried both -1 to negate, and 30000000000000, neither changed the time from 60). phpinfo() returns Configuration File (php.ini) Path no value. I tried copying php.ini into xampp/apache/bin to no avail. I tried appending ## The path to the dir that contains php.ini (not the path to the file) PHPINIDir /path/to/dir/with/php_ini_file to httpd.conf, but apache then would not start.

(i have restarted apache after each change)

thank you for your help!