cmd> mysqld --console
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
cmd> mysqld --defaults-file="c:\mysql\mysql-5.1\my.ini"
cmd> mysqladmin -u root -p shutdown
If MySQL is configured as Windows service, MySQL will be started automatically when the machine restart.
Otherwise:
To start: admin> net start MySQL
To stop: admin> net stop MySQL