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We'll look at three stages: downloading, installing, and starting the server.

Downloading MySQL

The first step to installing MySQL on Windows is to download the installation file. Open your browser and browse to http://www.mysql.com/downloads/index.html, which is the MySQL downloads page. You need to select the option MySQL 3.23 Production release (recommended). This will take you to a new page where you can select the package to download. For Windows, there's only one file, which at the time of writing is listed as

• Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP    Version 3.23.55 Size 13.3M

Download this file ready for the install by selecting the "Pick a mirror" link, so you can choose the download location closest to you. New versions are released frequently, but the actual setup procedure should remain the same.

It is worth noting that a new version of MySQL (version 4) is under development and at the time of this writing is still undergoing testing. You can find out more about the MySQL version 4 release at the following URL: http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/MySQL_4.0_In_A_Nutshell.html.

Installing MySQL

The downloaded install file is a .zip file, so you'll need to extract the contents of this file to a temporary location on your hard drive. Run the setup program by double-clicking setup.exe. This will start the install process.

Click Next to start the installation.

This dialog box gives extra information about the installation. It's important to read this information in case it applies to your installation. You can then click Next to continue.

In the next dialog box, you can select the directory into which MySQL is installed. It's recommended that you leave this directory as the default, which is C:\mysql. If you change it, you will need to configure MySQL later to use your chosen path.

Click Next to continue to the next dialog box, which allows you to select an installation type. It's recommended that you stick to the default option. Click Next to continue and then Finish to complete the installation.

Starting the MySQL Server

Now that the MySQL server package has been installed, you need to start the server before you can perform any administration tasks and set up a new database. To start the server, open Windows Explorer and browse to the directory in which you installed MySQL. If you followed this guide, then the location is C:\mysql.

Next, change to the bin subdirectory. Here you should see a tool called winmysqladmin.exe. This is used to start and stop the MySQL server, so to make it easier to get to, it's a good idea to right-click the winmysqladmin.exe file and select Create Shortcut. You can then drag this shortcut to the desktop to make it more accessible and easier to control the MySQL server.

To start the server, double-click the winmysqladmin.exe file. The first time you run WinMySQLAdmin, it will prompt you for a username and password, which it will store in a file called my.ini in your Windows system directory and use to access MySQL information.

The dialog box shown next will appear briefly and will then disappear.

Note that the Environment tab, shown in the preceding screen shot, is useful for displaying information about the MySQL server. When the preceding dialog box has minimized, you'll be left with a green "traffic light" icon in your Windows System tray. This indicates that the MySQL server is running.

If the icon is red, the MySQL server is stopped.

If you right-click the MySQL "traffic light" icon and select Show me, the main winmysqladmin.exe screen is redisplayed. This tool allows you to see various categories of information about the server, such as the databases set up and how many users are connected to MySQL.

To start and stop the MySQL server, you can either right-click the MySQL icon in the system tray and use the menu to stop or start the server, or you can use the Services section of Administrative tools in the Windows Control Panel.

Now the server is installed and running.