ucas -
Thank you for the sincere apology you sent me.
You can either use the MySQL command line tools with arguments for specific tasks
Open a command window at C:\xampp\mysql\bin
then use (for instance) mysqldump.exe (with parameters) to backup Databases and/or tables
or
mysqladmin - to administer the databases with command lne directives
To start a session for manipulating MySQL databases with SQL statements/directives
Open a command window at C:\xampp\mysql\bin
Type
mysql.exe -u 'root' -p 'yourpassword'
This will start the MySQL monitor - some call it the MySQL shell - but the correct name is Monitor (works the same on any platform basically)
OR use this clever tool 'MySQL Workbench' (which I use) its a local GUI Client to design/build/use MySQL databases. (works with any MySQL database - local or remote- uses Connect [obviously])
http://wb.mysql.com/Good Luck