Apache Friends Support Forum

Hi,

being a total rookie-newbie-wannabe I installed XAMPP on XP (d:/xampp). Kept it there for a while, for some reason didn't really get the hang of it, then removed it just by deleting the folder - as told in the instructions.

Today I wanted to take another try with all this stuff and downloaded the MySQL thing straight from mysql.com, installed it (c:/mysql) and tried to make it work as a service, following the instructions from mysql.com.

But the problem is that even though the XAMPP instructions claim that it won't mess up anything and deinstalling is just a snap, I couldn't set my new MySQL server to launch automatically, because the Windows Management Console (Control Panel -> Services) claims that there already is a server on that old XAMPP path - which in reality doesn't even exist anymore on the hard drive. When I tried to fix things from DOS prompt, it, too, told that there already is this server residing in this (deleted) folder on the (wrong) d: drive.

So how could I get rid of that old piece of info? I tried to edit the path on the Properties window of the Management Console, couldn't do it, I tried to delete the whole MySQL entry from that freaking Console, couldn't do it, I even deinstalled the new server, hoping that this old crap would somehow vanish too - it didn't help. What should I do? Where is the file that says that there's a path d:/xampp/etcetera leading to a server long gone?!

I'm in a hurry, so please, if you have any suggestions, write!

Thanks in advance,

hhhj

PS. I just noticed that a guy called Pharaoh has the exact same problem that's he's writing about in an earlier topic. So this really gets on other people's nerves too! The deinstallation doesn't work as promised. Please help!

Hi,

if you are sure the old stuff IS deleted and file:///d:/xampp is no longer existant the only information left should be found in your windows registry (cmd.exe).

What does your Taskmanager say - is there any process running that gives a hint it could be apache.exe?

Thanks for the first tip,

maybe now this will get solved! I indeed found a file called cmd.exe-087b4001 from c:/windows/prefetch, opened it in Notepad and sure it contains something about the xampp/mysql path in its last lines, after some weird mumbo jumbo...

My question now is (being a non-programmer) that can I edit that file simply in Notepad, and how exactly? Can I just erase the xampp/mysql path stuff and expect my Windows to still work properly otherwise?

I'm not sure I got you correctly, but to answer your last question:
You CAN delete Xampp / MySQL related stuff without doing any harm to your Windows System.

I don't know your configuration, but XP usually hides system files (and even rebuilds them when deleted).

You mentioned that the file is to be found in c:/windows/prefetch/. This is a cache-directory. You can (and you SHOULD from time to time) delete ALL files you discover herein.
This speeds windows up a little

Well, that doesn't solve your problem. I guess if that old stuff IS still running, there MUST be hints -

1. Taskmanager (apache.exe still running => Shut down)
2. Autostart
3. What do you find if you open file:///c:\windows\pchealth\helpctr\binaries\msconfig.exe ==> services /// system start?
4. Is it really completely deleted from file:///d/

Thanks for help, I tried some of those things you mentioned, with no luck however.

But the problem got solved, when somebody on another forum pointed to me that there's this mysql_uninstallservice.bat in xampp/mysql folder. That did the trick.

I still remain a bit puzzled because I'm sure I didn't set the xampp's mysql as service (somewhere in the xampp instructions there are few lines about how to do that). Somehow it happened automatically?

All in all, it's great that all this stuff is free, but more thorough documentation (in English!) would be super.

there are things called services in win nt and up. to remove it you need to:

If you perform service operations from the command line while the Services Manager is running, it will not notice the effect of those operations. For example, if you install or remove the MySQL service by invoking a server with the --install or --remove options, Services Manager doesn't update its service list.

http://www.kitebird.com/articles/nt-serv.html

odd thing is is you need to have an installed version in place to remove it, just use the version you have and then reinstall it so as to update the path. i am not good at details, if you need more help this is a better starting point to get it. good luck

hi hhhj,

you can try this:

Copy this in your editor and save it as "delmysqlservice.reg"

Code: Select all

=== cut after here ===
REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MySql]

=== cut before here / with blank line ===


Then doubleclick the file and import it in the registry (restart windows).

Now you can install the service at the new location of mysql with "mysql_installservice.bat".

I hope this can help you.