MySQL password problem on Joomla/Moodle

[pbeddy]

I have XAMPP installed on a Win2k3 server, running Joomla. This was installed more than a year ago, and is working very stabily. Regular updates to the web site are done through Joomla and all is well.
I now have to install Moodle onto the same box. Downloaded the weekly build, unpacked and started the install. The Moodle files are going into c:\xampp\moodle and c:\xampp\moodledata
The Moodle component will run from a different IP address and the necessary changes have been made in c:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf

The Moodle installation get to the database installation screen and, leaving the other entries as the defaults, I enter what I had recorded as the mySQL username and password. I am left with the "We could not connect to the database specified..." screen. It is remotely possible that I have get the password wrong, but I fear that making a change will break the Joomla part of the server.
Is it possible to:
a) recover the password file in plain text from one of the files on the server - or
b) change the password somehow so as not the break the Joomla installation

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.