Managing & Using MySQL, 2nd Edition

Windows Installation

The distributions for Windows can be found in the same place as the distributions for Unix: at http://www.mysql.com/downloads or at one of the mirror sites. Windows installation is simply a matter of downloading the mysql -version. zip, unzipping it, and running the set-up program.

The default install location for MySQL Windows is c:\mysql. The installer will allow you to change the location. However, if you choose to do so, you may need to modify some configuration files to get everything working correctly. Refer to the full MySQL installation documentation at http://www.mysql.com/documentation for more information.

The installer will give you the choice between a typical, compact, or custom install. You should use the typical install unless you wish to modify the list of components that are installed. In that case, use the custom install.

The Windows binary distribution contains several servers from which to choose. Table 2-2 lists these servers.

Table 2-2. Servers that come with the Windows distribution

Server name	Description
mysqld	Debug binary with memory allocation checking, symbolic link support, and transactional table support (InnoDB and DBD)
mysqld-opt	Optimized binary with no support for transactional tables
mysqld-nt	Optimized binary with support for NT named pipes
mysqld-max	Optimized binary with support for transactional tables
mysqld-max-nt	Optmized binary with support for NT named pipes and transactional tables