I was able to get localhost access on a clean install available after:
uninstalling C++ Visual Studio 2017 redistributable
re
installing C++ Visual Studio 2015 redistributable
although Apache frequently stops spontaneously for no apparent reason.
It would be nice if the user panel widget were visible but it apparently is visible only on lower resolution displays.
I still can't get ampps on my other drive (upgraded from 3.7 to 3.8) to change to php 7.1 and be able to access localhost. The logs are completely blank.