MySQL problem reconnecting (mysqld.exe) keeps giving error

Need some guidance figuring out what went wrong. I've been using mysql, phpmyadmin for just under a year on my home computer while I develop a webapp. 3 days ago I updated my windows vista with all the "wonderful" microsoft updates, security patches, etc...and now it's broke. I tried uninstalling all the upgrades, but there are 4 of them I can't unistall because microsoft says their "operating system" updates and can't be unistalled.

My system is: windows vista, php 5+, mysql 5.1, Apache 2+.

I can run my web app and it queries the database without any problems. However, when I run phpmyadmin to get into the database I get an error: "mysqld.exe has stopped working" and phpmyadmin crashes. I tried going to the command line for mysql to do a mysqldump to backup my database and it gives me an error "2013, could not connect to the server". If I restart the computer the webapp will work again. Basically, php can query the database, but if I try to get at the database through phpmyadmin, or the command prompt the mysqld.exe error occurs and blows mysql 开发者_运维技巧out.

Any ideas what's going on here? Any ideas how to get around this to backup the db, so I can reinstall mysql?. I'm really lost where to start. I don't really know if the updates caused the problem, or if the 4 updates that can't be unistalled are really the problem.

Any tips will be appreciated. thanks.

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You could try using XAMPP. It has PHP, MySQL, Apache, and other stuff all in one easy to use package.

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After a software/ hardware drivers update, it may happened that the service mysqld.exe crashes at each launch (usually with message: mysqld.exe encountered an error and needs to close) Check the solution described here (it worked for me) if you wish to avoid mysql reinstall.