Start/Stop MySQL Server in a Windows Command Window

Open a Windows command window to start the MySQL server
- For error message logs to the window console (Good for development)
```
cmd> mysqld --console
```
- For error message logs to a file
```
cmd> mysqld --log-error
```
  mysqld needs at least 1 option in the command line to start probably in Windows of the tested version
```
Error messages will be logged in c:\mysql\data\my_host.err
```
- Advance: Start the MySQL Server with a specific option file
```
cmd> mysqld --defaults-file="c:\mysql\mysql-5.1\my.ini"
```
Stop MySQL in a Windows command window
```
cmd> mysqladmin -u root -p shutdown
```

Start/Stop MySQL Server as a Windows Service

If MySQL is configured as Windows service, MySQL will be started automatically when the machine restart.

Otherwise:

Use Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services -> MySQL to start/stop the service

Or in a Windows command window with "Run as administrator"

To start:

admin> net start MySQL

To stop:

admin> net stop MySQL