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This is how I installed, tested and currently use MySQL 5.0.41 on Windows. At the time of writing MySQL version 5.0.41 is the current release, but I expect this to work with future releases to.

Download the MySQL installer from HERE

The installer comes in a .zip file so you will need to extract it. Now run the installer (setup.exe) and select the ‘Typical’ setup type. Click ‘Install’ to begin the installation process. Once the installer copies files onto your computer you are presented with the option to ‘Configure the MySQL Server now’. Make sure this option is checked and click ‘Finish’ to end the installation and begin configuring MySQL.

You will be presented with an option to choose a ‘configuration type’ for customizing your MySQL installation. Choose ‘Detailed Configuration’.

You will now be asked to choose a ’server type’. Here you are presented with three options. Since I will not be using MySQL a great deal as it will only be used to serve a single website I will choose the ‘Developer Machine’ option. If you plan on hosting a few websites that require a MySQL database and you expect fairly heavy traffic then I would recommend the ‘Server Machine’ option. Since my computer’s priority is not to serve multiple websites the ‘Developer Machine’ option is fine for me and this will use less of the computer’s memory.

Next you will be asked to pick the ‘database usage’. Select ‘Non-Transactional Database Only’.

Next you will be asked to gauge the ‘number of concurrent connections to the server’. Since I do not expect a high number of users using the database at anyone one time I will select the ‘Decision Support (DSS)/OLAP’ option. This allows for 20 concurrent connections to the MySQL database.

Now you will be asked to specify networking options for the MySQL database. The defaults are fine.

The following screen requires you to choose a ‘default character set’. I chose the default ‘Standard Character Set’ since this is fine for English Languages.

You are now asked to set any windows options. I used the default option of installing MySQL as a ‘Windows Service’ and made sure it was set to run MySQL automatically.

The final part of this installation involves setting the security options for MySQL. I cannot stress how important it is to set a complex password on your MySQL database, especially if you computer is not protected by a firewall and is directly connected to the internet. So, make sure the ‘Modify Security Settings’ check box is enabled and enter a password for the default database admin user called ‘root’. Make this password as complex as you can.

Next click ‘Execute’ to begin configuration of your database.

The wizard will configure the database for you and show blue ticks next to each part of the configuration after a successful setup.

Clicking the ‘Finish’ button closes the configuration wizard and completes the installation of MySQL. Should any of your requirements change and you need to reconfigure MySQL, there are two ways of modifying your configuration. The first is to manually edit the config file that contains all of the MySQL settings. It can be located at ‘C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.0\my.ini’, the second is to browse the start menu on your computer until you find the MySQL sub menu. You can run the configuration wizard by clicking ‘MySQL Server Instance Config Wizard’ shortcut from within the MySQL sub menu.