This is what mysql_error.log was showing.
- mysql_error.log on setup
140117 22:19:19 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled.
140117 22:19:19 InnoDB: The InnoDB memory heap is disabled
140117 22:19:19 InnoDB: Mutexes and rw_locks use Windows interlocked functions
140117 22:19:19 InnoDB: Compressed tables use zlib 1.2.3
140117 22:19:19 InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, size = 16.0M
140117 22:19:19 InnoDB: Completed initialization of buffer pool
140117 22:19:19 InnoDB: highest supported file format is Barracuda.
InnoDB: The log sequence number in ibdata files does not match
InnoDB: the log sequence number in the ib_logfiles!
140117 22:19:19 InnoDB: Database was not shut down normally!
InnoDB: Starting crash recovery.
InnoDB: Reading tablespace information from the .ibd files...
InnoDB: Restoring possible half-written data pages from the doublewrite
InnoDB: buffer...
140117 22:19:20 InnoDB: Waiting for the background threads to start
140117 22:19:21 InnoDB: 5.5.34 started; log sequence number 1595675
140117 22:19:21 [Note] Server hostname (bind-address): '0.0.0.0'; port: 3306
140117 22:19:21 [Note] - '0.0.0.0' resolves to '0.0.0.0';
140117 22:19:21 [Note] Server socket created on IP: '0.0.0.0'.
140117 22:19:21 [Note] Event Scheduler: Loaded 0 events
140117 22:19:21 [Note] c:\users\john\documents\xampp\mysql\bin\mysqld.exe: ready for connections.
Version: '5.5.34' socket: '' port: 3306 MySQL Community Server (GPL)
mysql_error.log after workaround #1 InnoDB flush
140117 22:29:36 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled.
140117 22:29:36 InnoDB: The InnoDB memory heap is disabled
140117 22:29:36 InnoDB: Mutexes and rw_locks use Windows interlocked functions
140117 22:29:36 InnoDB: Compressed tables use zlib 1.2.3
140117 22:29:36 InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, size = 16.0M
140117 22:29:36 InnoDB: Completed initialization of buffer pool
140117 22:29:36 InnoDB: highest supported file format is Barracuda.
InnoDB: The log sequence number in ibdata files does not match
InnoDB: the log sequence number in the ib_logfiles!
140117 22:29:36 InnoDB: Database was not shut down normally!
InnoDB: Starting crash recovery.
InnoDB: Reading tablespace information from the .ibd files...
InnoDB: Restoring possible half-written data pages from the doublewrite
InnoDB: buffer...
140117 22:29:37 InnoDB: Waiting for the background threads to start
140117 22:29:38 InnoDB: 5.5.34 started; log sequence number 1595675
140117 22:29:38 [Note] Server hostname (bind-address): '0.0.0.0'; port: 3306
140117 22:29:38 [Note] - '0.0.0.0' resolves to '0.0.0.0';
140117 22:29:38 [Note] Server socket created on IP: '0.0.0.0'.
140117 22:29:38 [Note] Event Scheduler: Loaded 0 events
140117 22:29:38 [Note] c:\users\john\documents\xampp\mysql\bin\mysqld.exe: ready for connections.
Version: '5.5.34' socket: '' port: 3306 MySQL Community Server (GPL)
mysql_error.log after workaround #2 make MyISAM default
140117 22:33:19 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled.
140117 22:33:19 [Note] Plugin 'InnoDB' is disabled.
140117 22:33:19 [Note] Server hostname (bind-address): '0.0.0.0'; port: 3306
140117 22:33:19 [Note] - '0.0.0.0' resolves to '0.0.0.0';
140117 22:33:19 [Note] Server socket created on IP: '0.0.0.0'.
140117 22:33:19 [Note] Event Scheduler: Loaded 0 events
140117 22:33:19 [Note] c:\users\john\documents\xampp\mysql\bin\mysqld.exe: ready for connections.
Version: '5.5.34' socket: '' port: 3306 MySQL Community Server (GPL)