In the following, <MYSQL_HOME> refers to the full path to your installation folder. Run the MySQL server in a DOS window with this command:
<MYSQL_HOME>\bin\mysqld --defaults-file="<MYSQL_HOME>\my.ini" --console –-skip-grant-tables
Beware two bugs. First, if you are running XP SP2, you may have to add --skip-slave-start to that command, even if you have not set up replication! Second, to step round a long-unfixed MySQL server bug, always put the defaults-file argument first.
If the above cmd fails, you see error messages. You may want to post them here. If it succeeds, assuming InnoDB is enabled, MySQL will spit out several lines ending with something like this:
101127 21:35:22 InnoDB: 1.1.3 started; log sequence number 1532574764
Note that it appears to hang (because the server is still running).
Now in another DOS window, from the installation folder, try to connect to your server:
<MYSQL_HOME>\bin\mysql -uroot
PB
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