The Problem
The Solution
This appears to be a problem for all Drupal profiles, not just Essentials. As best I can tell, it's related to the Windows file system when the installer searches for modules in sites/all.
Greatly increase the max_execution_time php.ini. I would suggest 600 seconds. In XAMPP, php.ini is located at C:\xampp\apache\bin\php.ini. That is the only location that matters. Changes to other php.ini files will not have any effect.
Install Essentials.
After the initial install, you will be able to reset the max_execution_time to what it was originally (usually 30 seconds) and the site will work properly.
