Do you need to run more MySQL versions on your local? The 'MySQLSystemTrayMonitor' program (shipped with 'MySQL Administrator) provides an easy way to switch between them – or run them simutaneously.
See attached picture. I have all major versions from 3.23.58 to 5.1.9 installed. And I have no 'Service' installed named 'MySQL' Instead I have five services 'MySQLxy' where 'xy' is the major server version. Each service is configured to 'point' to executables for the corresponding major MySQL version.
Now to test an issue or anything with some specific MySQL version is very simple. Stop one – start another. The 'configure instance' lets me assign a different port for each instance and they can be run simutaneously.
However 'Net start MySQL' of course does not work here – as there is no OS service named 'MySQL' anymore 😕 But 'Net start MySQL50' does. It starts the MySQL 5.0.x that I have intalled (5.0.21 as of now).
There is a small cosmetical with the 'MySQLSystemTrayMonitor' program – the color (green/red) in the icon system tray only reflects the first-mentioned of the services. That has been reported to bugs.mysql.com…
BTW: don't be confused by the fact that the systray on this PC has been moved from bottom of screen to left of screen (and is hidden by default). Being a hard-core OS/2-user for a decade I really HATE the Windows systray .. I don't want such garbage to disturb my thinking
