5 detailed Steps to MySQL Uninstallation and ReInstallation on Windows 7

MySQL is a free database which has been popular since the earlier web era. Its popularity has gained over the years. Today major platforms are using MySQL as the backend database. There are several features and capabilities of MySQL which make it appropriate for most web based applications. MySQL is now owned by Oracle Corporation. Though this database is good and popular, several users, especially newbies get stuck with an important issue in MySQL – uninstalling MySQL and installing it back again. There is a major architecture change that is required in MySQL to smoothly enable this – but for now, the problems stay. This article explains easy steps – but very detailed - to uninstall MySQL from a Windows 7 machine and reinstall it.

Why is this article required?

· Scenario 1 - Assume that you have a MySQL instance on your desktop or laptop. You were doing something knowingly or unknowingly, and suddenly the application does not connect and you get a message that there is some problem with your database and you therefore decided to uninstall the database and reinstall it.

· Scenario 2 – You wanted to delete the old instance of MySQL and put a new install

· Scenario 3 – You wanted to change the root password of your MySQL You did it, but now the database won’t start and you need to reinstall

· You have forgotten the password of your old MySQL and want to reinstall a new instance

Disclaimer - This article does not address the issues related to loss of data or backup concerns. You should have backups of your database regularly.

Importance of this article in this information age – MySQL stores data and files in a lot of places. There is also a lack of proper information source for MySQL problems. Many forums have partial or incorrect answers to this problems and errors in uninstall and reinstall.

Summary of Steps

· Step 1 - Uninstall MySQL from your Windows 7 Programs

· Step 2 - Uninstall MySQL once again using SQL Installer downloadable

· Step 4 - Reinstall the MySQL

· Step 3 - Remove MySQL Services and Data

o Remove MySQL directories

o Remove MySQL services from Windows 7

o Release Port held by MySQL

o Remove MySQL Data including old password file from hidden directories

· Step 5 - Create a sample database and get going

(Since the nature of the problem is peculiar – Step 3 comes after Step 4, deliberately so)

Step 1 – Uninstall MySQL Programs from your Windows 7

To do this, go to the following sub steps

Start à Control Panel à Programs à Uninstall a Program

Start

· You will MySQL listed there (like MySQL Server 5.5, MySQL Server 5.1 etc)

· Click on the particular Program

· It gives a dialog box “Are you sure you want to uninstall MySQL Server 5.5”.

· I am assuming that you know what you are doing. So click “Yes”

· Once you say “Yes”. It will give you the following dialog box

· On some machines the next dialog box maybe a permission dialog. Click “Yes” again here

· Next you will see the following dialog boxes

· On the above box select “mysql”. If you are using MySQL for standard use, these radio buttons don’t matter.. Click on the first one. This is where I mean – MySQL needs to be re designed with proper architecture and documentation - since the language on the radio buttons doesn’t make sense. Anyway – click on the first radio button and say “OK”

· Next you get the following dialog box and then your MySQL has been uninstalled (but not completely).

Step 2 – Uninstall MySQL through the MySQL installer

This process seems to be redundant after Step 1. But sometimes it has been observed that this is complementary or mandatory. Therefore it is advisable to do this step. This step is also required if your reinstallation has halted due to some reasons and you have to remove the vestiges.

To do this – you need to have the MySQL installable (download). This is also going to be needed at Step 3. You can get the MySQL downloadable from MySQL site or from popular download sites. There are two types of files for Windows 7. The smaller file is an exe file which is approximately 5MB. The larger file is a complete installer of 200MB. Having the smaller file should be good enough for the install. But if you want additional tools and wizards, you could use the larger file. Also the larger file requires .NET 4.0 to run. So you may have to install .NET from Microsoft site and then use the larger file. Since smaller file is good enough, this step explains the process using the smaller executable file. I have downloaded the file and it shows as below.

· I double click on the file “mysql-5.525a-win32”

· I get the first dialog box and click

· Click Next and you get another dialog box

· Click “remove”. You will get another dialog box

· Click “remove” and it does the removal process. If for some reason the system does not proceed, check the bottom part of your screen, as it should be waiting for your permission “Do you want…..”. Click “yes”. If the removal process is done, you will get the following screen

Step 3 – Remove Data Files and Services and Release the Port

Step 1 and Step 2 removes MySQL from a program perspective, but does not completely remove MySQL.

· Does not remove the MySQL directories associated with the application

· Does not remove the MySQL Service from windows

· Does not release the Port which was being used by MySQL (normally port 3306)

· Does not remove your login data. This login data is your earlier id and password.

So Step 3 addresses all these points. Many users have asked for these steps because of multiple reasons. Especially if you have lost your password. But before we go to Step 3, let us try reinstalling the MySQL without doing Step 3. That means – let us go to Step 4 and see what happens. If everything goes fine, then you don’t need this Step 3….Step 3 is described after Step 4 for easier follow-up.

Step 4 – Reinstalling MySQL

· Get a download of MySQL as explained in Step 2

· I double click on the file “mysql-5.525a-win32”

· I get the first dialog box and click

· Click “Next”. You will get a license agreement

· Click on checkbox “I accept…” and click “Next”

· It gives the next dialog box to select the type of installation

· Here you can click “Typical” - for all normal users a typical setup is good enough

· You will get the next dialog box

· Click “Install”. As you can see the number of dialog boxes are one too many. You will see many more before the final step is completed

· You will get the next dialog box

· If your computer is taking too long, just observe your bottom most part of your screen – it may be asking for permission to proceed “Do you want the following program…..”. In that case click “Yes”

· Next you will see the following dialog boxes. These are again junk dialog boxes and could have been avoided. . Click Next on these two

· You will see the following dialog box

· Don’t say “phew finally”. This is not the end of the installation. There is lots more. But click “Finish” here.

· It will launch the server installation configuration screen (dialog box) as follows (for some machines, if it is taking too long, just check your bottom screen, it may be asking for permission to proceed. Click “Yes”)

· Now – this screen leads to a series of screens where the application asks you to input a lot of stuff. If you are a normal user, you can follow the same inputs I have done.

· If you get an error message “Port 3306 is already in use by another MySQL instance…”, then you have to cancel this step. Go to Step 3. Finish everything mentioned there and come back to Step 4. Do not put another port number like 3307 and proceed.

· Now the last screen comes up

· Here – you have to put in your password. Note – that the user id is always “root” (you don’t have to enter the user id).. You need to only key in your password.

· The options circled in blue are not required for normal users, so can be left unchecked

· After you enter the passwords – the “Next” button shows up. Click on that and you get the last screen

· Press “Execute” here. It goes on the above radio buttons one by one. It will take a while for this screen to get completed, with multiple status points. At any point of time you click the install screen, you will get “Not responding”. But don’t worry, the work is going on behind the scene. As said – this takes a while, so have patience

· If all goes well – you should see the following screen

· If you see the following error, then you have two options

o If you have really forgotten the password and don’t know the old password – you need to press “Cancel”. You then need to do Step 3 completely and then come back to Step 4. There is no other way

o If you have entered a wrong password, then you can say “Skip” and then you get the following screen. Press “Back” a few times until you get the password screen. Input the right password (the old passwords and you should get the installation through. If you still get the “Retry Skip” screen, then you HAVE to do Step 3 and then back to Step 4 again

One more important matter in Step 4 – At any point of time, if by some mistake, you have pressed cancel or your installation has halted, you cannot redo Step 4. You will get the below error message. You have to do Step 3 and then come back to do Step 4

Step 3 – Uninstalling MySQL Data and Services Completely and Releasing Port

· Removes the MySQL directories associated with the application

· Remove the MySQL Service from windows

· Releases the Port which was being used by MySQL (normally port 3306)

· Removes login data (your earlier password)

To do this Step 3, the following sub steps need to be done

· Remove MySQL Files and directories

o This process is simple. Just locate your c:\Programs directory. It could be either “C:\Program Files” or “C:\Program Files (x86)”. Locate the folder called MySQL and delete all the files in this folder.

· Remove MySQL Service and release your port 3306

o To do this – go to command prompt on your windows

· Type “cmd” and press “enter”. You will get a black screen which shows the command prompt

· Now you need to find the name of your service. To do this, press “Ctrl Alt Del” and click on “Start Task Manager”, which opens up your task manager. Click on “services”. You will see mySQL service as follows

· Go back to the black command prompt screen and type the following and press enter r “sc delete mysql” (without quotes). The name “mysql” should match the same as what you are seeing in the services screen above. In my case it is “MySQL”. Sometimes it may show up as “MySQL51” etc. So be sure you use the correct name.

· If you have access it should delete and show you a success message. If it shows “Access Denied”, then you have two options

o If you are really not the admin of the computer, nothing you can do. You have to wait for the admin person to login and remove this service. NOTHING can be done.

o If you are the admin owner of the computer, then open up the command prompt using the admin option as follows

§ Type “command” in the start bar search form. You will see I have marked two arrows – red and blue. Place your mouse on the blue arrow and right click.

· Then select “Run as Administrator” (show in brown arrow). The command window will open up with you as Administrator

· Go back to typing “sc delete mysql”. If you are really the administrator, you will get a success message as follows

· So you have now removed the MySQL from Windows services and released the port which it was using

· Next sub step is to remove the login data and other data files. For this you need to know a few things

o On Windows 7, MySQL stores its data in a folder called “Program Data”. You normally won’t find it through explorer, as this is a hidden directory. So you have to do a few steps to locate this directory

o Go to search option on your windows taskbar and type “Folder Options” as show in RED arrow. You will get a folder option at the top of the box, shown in BLUE arrow

· Right Mouse Click and Open. You will see the following

· Click on “View” as shown in RED arrow, you will see the following screen

· Select the Radio button marked in purple – show all hidden files and folders and then select apply

· One this is done – on your windows explorer you will see the program data directory. C:\Program Data.

· Go to MySQL directory in this Program Data directory and delete all the files in the MySQL directory.

· Some users may get a message “access denied”. Then give permissions and it will delete the files

· Some users may get a message “Unable to delete some files because a folder is open..”. In this case, close all windows and try again. If the problem still persists, then save your work and bookmarks and restart the machine and try deleting the MySQL folder again. It should work

· Note – after everything is over – be sure to hide back the hidden files, as you don’t want tons and tons of files showing up on your windows explorer.

· Deleting the Program Data\MySQL files will certainly remove your previous password data and make the uninstallation of MySQL as COMPLETE. You have nothing more left of the old MySQL on your machine.

Checklist to see everything of MySQL has been deleted

Checklist 1 - C:\Program Files should not have a MySQL directory

Checklist 2 - C:\Program Data (hidden directory) should not have a MySQL directory

Checklist 3 - Windows Task Manager should not show MySQL as a process (ctrl alt del, task manager, services)

Checklist 4 - When you try installing MySQL from the download file, it should not go to the “Remove Repair Change” screen, but should go to the “I Accept Terms..” screen (if you still see the Remove-Repair screen, then finish Step 3 once again)

Checklist 5 - On Windows Start Panel, you should not see the following shortcut

Only if all these 5 checklists have been done, you can assume that you MySQL has been removed completely from your system. If not – then redo step 3 all over. The Step 3 can be done independently many times over until it fulfills the above checklist

Step 5 – If your above checklist is correct – go ahead and do Step 4. You should be able to reinstall MySQL successfully. And you should see the following message at the end of Step 4

Anything goes wrong – redo Step 3, Step2 and Step 4 until you get the right result.

Step 6 – This Step I have mostly created for everyone to get going. Here we will create a database and ensure that we are good-to-go. Simple steps – but I have explained in detail, as this is the final step to freedom and glory.

· You will notice on your Windows start screen a shortcut has been created as shown in BLUE arrow.

· Right Mouse Click on the shortcut and say Run as Administrator

· You will get a black command prompt screen of MySQL as follows. Enter your password – the same that you used to install the MySQL

· You will get the following screen

· Here you type the following – without the quotes – “create database magicpot;” and press Enter. The database name is magicpot. You can put your own database name. You will see a message

THAT IS IT

YOUR MYSQL IS READY TO GO