Re: Migrating MySql from Debian to Windows
Bill,
Barry's suggestion is to install the same version of MySQL on your Windows 'puter, then copy data files into that data dir and hope for the best. The copy process he means is at operating system level. It will work if (i) the files are intact and (ii) all the data files are in that folder. To the extent that the database used the InnoDB storage engine (rather than MyISAM), assumption [ii] is mistaken---InnoDB data will be somewhere else, specifically in the folder named by the MySQL variable named innodb_data_home_dir. To find that setting, you will need to find the text file named my.cnf on the old machine, and look for the setting in it.
An alternative would be to install the same version of Debian Linux in a machine (or as a VM on your Windows machine), install version 5.0.51a of MySQL on that box, connect the old machine as a secondary drive, stop the new MySQL server, change the drive and directory references in my.ini in the new Linux installation to point at the old drive, and restart the MySQL server. At this point you should have a functioning database, and you can run mysqldump to get a full copy of it, which can then be imported into a Windows installation, then upgraded to a current version.
As you see, neither option is simple. Both require experience with Linux and MySQL management. If I had neither, I'd hire a local IT person with such knowledge.