MySQL Password Not Working

Question

EDIT: I had MySQL installed twice on my machine (XAMPP & on its own)

When I enter my password into MySQL Command Line Client, it rejects my password, gives 1 beep and closes the window. Can anyone provide me with a basic troubleshooting list of steps (from simple to progressively more technical) to regain entry into MySQL once and for all. Also, can anyone tell me what can cause my password to suddenly be rejected? I am also running XAMPP and the MySQL service is both installed and running. Thanks in advance.

I remember when I first got this problem some months ago, if I recall correctly, I solved it by starting the MySQL service from Windows XP's Administrative Tool (something I did stopped the MySQL service and to this day I don't know what it was).

Now the problem has started back again but this time, when I checked Services, the MySQL service was already 'started'.

Any assistance will be appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

I think I figured out why my password was not working. I had two versions of MySQL installed on my machine (XAMPP and MySQL 5.1). So I deleted the MySQL 5.1 and it worked.

Answer 2

Is there an error message when it rejects your password? I wonder if perhaps you are using an outdated client and running into this issue: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/old-client.html

Answer 3

If you set mySQL to not begin running on startup, then you need to start it prior to attempting to login. This can be done via the command line, via the task manager if you configured it as a windows service, etc.

For example, here is an explanation of starting the service using cmd

Starting MySQL from the Windows Command Line | MySQL

Answer 4

For me (and my similar problem),

--password = mypass

didn't work, but

--password="mypass"

did.