2.3.4 Installing MySQL on Microsoft Windows Using a noinstall ZIP Archive

2.3.4 Installing MySQL on Microsoft Windows Using a `noinstall` ZIP Archive

2.3.4.1 Extracting the Install Archive
2.3.4.2 Creating an Option File
2.3.4.3 Selecting a MySQL Server Type
2.3.4.4 Initializing the Data Directory
2.3.4.5 Starting the Server for the First Time
2.3.4.6 Starting MySQL from the Windows Command Line
2.3.4.7 Customizing the PATH for MySQL Tools
2.3.4.8 Starting MySQL as a Windows Service
2.3.4.9 Testing The MySQL Installation

Users who are installing from the noinstall package can use the instructions in this section to manually install MySQL. The process for installing MySQL from a ZIP Archive package is as follows:

Extract the main archive to the desired install directory
Optional: also extract the debug-test archive if you plan to execute the MySQL benchmark and test suite
Create an option file
Choose a MySQL server type
Initialize MySQL
Start the MySQL server
Secure the default user accounts

This process is described in the sections that follow.