ok now I'm confused. I did a fresh install of #MySQL 5.5.15 on my other WIndows 2003 machine, default empty starting config, and the default db won't run. I haven't even gotten to the part where I work with my old database file. I can't even get the initial install to work . So clearly I'm doing something wrong here. I have MySQL, the ODBC connector, and Workbench installed, and Visual C++ 2010 so the Workbench would run. Will start checking permissions.

It had come up running, but when I shut it down I couldn't get it to start again. So I rebooted, again it came up running, and I'm just letting it run for now.

I'm exploring where MySQL is making files and such in its default state. For example I'm seeing by default it puts the detailed frm data files (which I'm currently missing from my needs-to-be-recovered system) into Documents-and-Settings rather than Program-Files. I must have changed that default when I moved from 5.1 up to 5.5, because on my damaged C drive I see those files in place in a 5.1 directory, but they're not there in the 5.5 directory. Now to figure out where they might be.

I had thought the frm data files simply didn't exist for INNODB tables, but it seems they do. So I'm trying to find them, on that damaged server.

Hmmm it looks like my old version my.ini didn't have the datadir defined - maybe that's why I have the three main innodb files but not the others. They must be somewhere! I can't figure out what the default would be for datadir if it's not defined explicitly. Still looking ...

IT WORKS! IT WORKS! IT WORKS! I HAVE ACCESS TO ALL MY #MYSQL DATA!!!! WOOOO HOOOOOOO

It turns out my system had gotten fairly confused during my upgrade last fall from 5.1 to 5.5. Even though the ini file clearly said to put the data into one spot, there must have been a registry entry or something else still pointing to 5.1. So while the three main files – IBDATA1 and such – were in the 5.5 directory, all the matching .frm files were down in the 5.1 directory.

When I assembled all the pieces together on my 2003 server, with the matching 5.5 MySQL software, POOF, the WordPress five databases exported completely smoothly, with all data up through the crash. Those five databases are up and running on the new server. Everything is fine with them. These five had only .frm files in their directories and were listed in there as INNODB. So the data was indeed in the IBDATA1 file I had.

That leaves the three remaining UBB forum databases. They have .frm as well as .myi and .myd files in the directories. The .frm files indicate that the tables are MYISAM. I had converted them all to INNODB just after the upgrade. So it seems that these .frm files are not the ones that go with the IBDATA1 file. But I can’t find any other .frm files on the old C drive. I was able to successfully export the data that was there in those .myi / .myd files – which was the data state just before I converted them to INNODB, last December. This at least gets the forums live and working with 8 or so years of data – but of course the last 9 months are still missing. Everything after the INNODB conversion is “trapped” in the IBDATA1 file.

I know I converted the tables to INNODB. I know this INNODB file I have (the IBDATA1) was the active one being used, as I just got all the wordpress content out of it. Apparently I now have to find the “correct” .frm files to go with that – or find some way to extract the data from the IBDATA1 file without having the .frm files. Alternately, could I edit the .frm files I do have and change them from saying these tables are MyISAM (their current state) to saying they are INNODB (which in reality they are)?

OK this is getting silly. I couldn't find the EnjoyMA blog .frm files ANYWHERE. I only had my IBDATA1 core file So I copied those .frm files from another wordpress blog, completely different data. Same table layout. VOILA. It connected fine and let me export all my data from that IBDATA1 file. So really, all you need if you have an IBDATA1 file and "trapped" INNODB data in it is to make up a dummy database with the same table definitions. Then copy those .frm files into a directory with the correct name of the data you do want. Good to know!