Where to find my database files from Windows service?

[Robert Schwaniger]

I ran MySQL 5.6 (possibly updated to 5.7) on Windows 10 until the end of November, when my hard drive took a bit of a dive as far as being bootable goes, cutting me off from my databases and I don't have a dump. Got a new drive with the old one in an enclosure, reinstalled the version I had originally. I searched for help regarding getting my data back, though the directory everyone pointed to ("C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\data") DIDN'T have it - just what it uses to run itself. Not even the sample databases from the Installer, even though I included them.

As part of trying out a possible solution, I stopped running the MYSQL56 service and ran the server --standalone, made a sample test database with it, then stopped that server. Then I restarted the service-driven server. The database I made on the standalone server was gone... but it was present in the "\data" folder.

This suggests to me that when Windows uses the MYSQL56 service to run the server, which is pretty much how I've always done it, it stores the data in a DIFFERENT directory. If I can find this directory on my old drive, I'll be able to backup my old data and, hopefully, eventually restore it.

So... does anyone have any idea where this directory is or might be?