So, I think I'm super close to having it figured out!! (but I still need help!)

[arlen_p]

Hey everyone! Good news, things are (currently) pretty much working out. I uninstalled and reinstalled XAMPP on Windows XP Home and things were looking great. I could connect to localhost. i could connect to localhost/today.php! it worked! also, i could go to localhost/info.php! they all worked! how awesome.
so i flipped to chapter two in Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL, and go to open MySQL and guess what!!! Something's wrong.
I went to c:/apachefriends/xampp/mysql/bin and tried opening mysql.exe....
a command prompt screen came up for a moment, then had an error and closed. here's what the error said:

ERROR 2003 (HY000): Can't connect to MySQL server on 'localhost' (10061)

anybody know how to fix this so i can work on chapter two??? please help.

[bigduke]

did you provide the username/password to access the db on the command line (assuming you were trying to execute it from the cmd line) ??

[arlen_p]

i don't know what any of that means.

but if you mean did i type 'mysql -h localhost -u root -p' like the book said to...then no, i didn't have a chance type anything before the command prompt closed after displaying the error quickly.

[bigduke]

are you sure your root password is NULL ? you must provide the password to your db, the book is only a guideline, can't follow it blindly

[arlen_p]

i didn't even type anything in. you have to understand this error came up before i could even type my username and password. why am i getting this error? i want to corret this error so i will be able to put my username and password in and continue on with chapter 2. thanks..