where is it and how to move it

[Loretta Liefveld]

I feel so stupid. For my entire career before retiring, I was an IT business systems analyst and VERY technically savvy. But that was a corporate environment, where the servers were already set up and all of the overall environment was set up. I am having a terrible time setting up MYSQL the way I want it. Obviously, there's a reason I was an analyst, and not a 'systems guy'.

My environment:
- One laptop running Windows 11.
- Local Instance MySQL80
- Host: LorettasPC
- Socket: MySQL
- Port: 3306
- Version: 8.0.31
- Compiled for: Win64 (x64_64)
- Config file: C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.09.31\my.ini

According to the config file (as well as @@datadir query) the datadir path is C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.0\Data

I can query the database with no problem.

HOWEVER...

When I go to my Windows folders to that folder, it says it's empty. (BTW - I do have the 'hidden folders' checked).

I also have a desktop laptop running Windows 10, and I want to be able to access the same database on both laptops. I installed the same version of Workbench and Server, but the database didn't show up in Workbench. Now that I see what's in the config file, that makes sense.

I have an external hard drive where I keep everything that I want to access from both laptops.

So.....

- Since the appropriate folder is 'empty', where is the data?

- How do I get the data over to the external hard drive? Can I just simply change the datadir path in the config file and re-import the data? I guess I would have to change that in BOTH laptops.

- I have no clue 'where' the server is running. I'm sort of assuming it needs to run separately on each laptop??

If I have to uninstall everything and reinstall, that's OK, I haven't changed anything in the database. I've just been trying to get it setup, so nothing would be lost to do that.

P.S. I tried looking at 'help' and it wasn't very helpful.