If you never set the root user password for MySQL, the server does not need a password to connect as root. However, it is recommended that you set a password for each account.
If you have previously set the root user password, but have forgotten the password, you can set a new password. The following steps are for the Windows platform. The steps for the UNIX platform are described later in this section.
Under the Windows platform, this step is:
Log on to the system as a system administrator.
If the MySQL server is running, stop it. For a server running as a Windows service, go to Service Manager:
Start Menu-> Control Panel-> management tools-> Services
Then locate the MySQL server in the list and stop it.
If the server is not running as a service, you may need to use Task Manager to force it to stop.
Create 1 text files and place the following command on a single line:
SET PASSWORD for ' root ' @ ' localhost ' = PASSWORD (' Mynewpassword ');
Save the file with any name. In this case, the file is C:\mysql-init.txt.
Open the Console window and enter the DOS command prompt:
Start Menu-> Run-> cmd
Assume that you have installed MySQL to C:\mysql. If you have MySQL installed in another location, please adjust the following command accordingly.
At the DOS command prompt, execute the command:
C:\> C:\mysql\bin\mysqld-nt--init-file=
C:\mysql-init.txt
When the server is started, the contents of the file named by the "--init-file" option are executed, and the root user password is changed. After the server has successfully started, you should delete the C:\mysql-init.txt.
If you installed MySQL with the MySQL Installation Wizard, you may need to specify the "--defaults-file" option:
c:\> C:\Program files\mysql\mysql Server 5.1\bin\mysqld-nt.exe
--defaults-file= "C:\Program files\mysql\mysql Server 5.1\my.ini"
--init-file=c:\mysql-init.txt
Using the Service Manager, you can find the appropriate "--defaults-file" setting:
Start Menu-> Control Panel-> management tools-> Services
Locate the MySQL service in the list, right-click, and select the Properties option. Include the "--defaults-file" setting in Path (path) of the executable field.
Stop the MySQL server and restart it in normal mode. If you run the server as a service, you should start it from the Windows Services window. If you start the server manually, you can use the command as you normally would.