Man, is my stack overflowing!
I’ve tried about four times to install MySQL in a developer configuration on Windows XP. It fails with Error 1045. Access denied for user ‘root’@’localhost’ (using password NO). I go through the whole install app, it actually starts the service, then fails at “Applying Security settings”.
There is no firewall running and I can access port 3306.
I get the following “helpful” hint.
If you are re-installing after you just uninstalled the MySQL server
please note that the data directory was not removed automatically.
Therefore the old password from your last installation is still needed
to connect to the server. In this case please select skip now and
re-run the Configuration Window from the start menu.
What is the “data directory”? I tried uninstalling completely. As far as I can tell, this removes nothing from the disk, only the registry. There is still a C:\Program Files\MYSql directory. OK, I deleted that whole thing and reinstalled. I searched for all files and folders named mysql. Nothing turns up after that deletion. I reinstall, and it’s the same thing. How do I clean this up so I can reinstall? What OTHER data files are there to get rid of? Or do I need to reboot, or what?
And to think, the only reason I got into this was because I lost the root password.
Aargh!
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.5\data
Get rid of that and you’re golden. Of course you have to repair your installation afterward, or it won’t work, but it does get rid of the previous password.
That’s the data directory they’re looking for. Nice of them to tell me.
I realize it’s obnoxious to answer your own question, but on the other hand, I’ve spent a fair bit of time googling this without finding this answer.