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I need to write an installation guide for MySQL for Windows 10. So I need to take screenshots and document steps for a 100% clean installer run.

I had MySQL already on my machine, so I uninstalled it. I uninstalled all MySQL related components using "Add/Remove Programs" and I deleted the "C:\Program Files\MySQL" folder.

The problem is, when I run the MySQL installer and I get to the "enter root password" part, it asks me to enter the current root password.

So it seems the previous root password is cached somewhere on the system.

I don't have another clean Windows 10 machine to run the installer on, and I really don't want to re-install Windows 10 just for this.

How do I completely remove MySQL and all related components and data from Windows 10?

AndySummers2020
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  • The root password is stored in the database itself, which you appearently didn't remove. See e.g. [Where does MySQL store database files on Windows and what is the name of the files?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/12947668) for where to find it (most likely at `c:\programFiles\MySQL\version number\data`) – Solarflare Jul 17 '20 at 17:26
  • Interesting, I thought I had deleted any `c:\program files\mysql` related folders. I'll try again. – AndySummers2020 Jul 18 '20 at 16:39
  • Sorry, I meant `c:\ProgramData\...`, not `c:\Program Files\...` (and other locations in the linked answer). – Solarflare Jul 18 '20 at 17:57
  • @Solarflare Thanks, tomorrow I will follow the instructions in the other answer and do a thorough re-test, and post the results. – AndySummers2020 Jul 18 '20 at 18:56

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After uninstalling all MySQL components using the Windows 10 uninstall, then I manually deleted the c:\program files\mysql and c:\programdata\mysql folder.

Then a full clean re-install was possible.

Thanks to @Solarflare for the pointer!

AndySummers2020
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