Oooooookay. First and foremost, i have absolutly no clue what i am doing.

I've come to the conclusion, that in order to have phpBB you must first have a working database of sorts, and decided i wanted to learn mySQL anyway, so i figured this is a good way to start.

I've downloaded mysql, to this directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\Steven Fellows\My Documents\web\mysql

all the files, including the different sized *.cnf files, are in this folder. I've read about custom installs moving these files to other places, but i'm trying to keep it simple.

I followed guide, as it's the simplest and most easy one to follow that i have come across.

I'll attatch my my.cnf as a .txt.

The problem, is the problem stated in the guide, the "Error 1067" but i can't see what i'm doing wrong, more to the point, i'm not sure i understand whats wrong. Any ideas/help/instructions would be much appreciated.

EDIT: I've noticed that the guide tells me to have a path to "ibdata" and "iblogs" yet these filers/folders (?) do not exist. What might they be? I notice it's "enqiuring" for a Dir, but does this just mean the directory in which this file is stored OR the location of this directory?

Do you have a web server set up already? Honestly, I would make life easy on yourself. Go download on the all in packages that PHP, Apache and MySQL (and phpmyadmin probably too). That will install everything for you. If the php or mysql version are older, you can just download the update and should not have to configure anything. PHP Triad is what I have used, but it is no longer being supported and the PHP and mysql and phpmyadmin versions are all old. There are other packages out there though that have it all-in-one as well. Search around on download.com or google for it.

I'm guessing these are like... "auto edditors" for the coding etc? I'm gunna get one for the mySQL side of things, and learn the stuff aswell as i go.

Yeah, I've already got my server set up, see the link in my signature!

this thing is fucking whack. I tried out the edditor on the MySql site, and it's shit. Non of it makes any sense, you change things, save it, and the changes just default to before the save...

Oh, and BTW the properties for for each field is dumb. Because I'm assuming that enum means "from the following" eg, Yes or No? Mr, Miss, Mrs? etc. But anyway, you can set that and still type whatever the fuck you want in there.

Mysql relies heavily on the logic coming from the programmer, which is part of why it is so fast. If you want something more compliant with ansi/iso, you should checkout postgresql.

As far as an admin program for mysql, I would use phpmyadmin. Very easy to use, and because it's web software, you can use it anywhere.

Its really easier than you think.

If your doing this on your home computer then you need to complete the following steps.

#1 Install mysql
#2 Install Php (and make sure its working)
#3 Install phpbb ( the forums)

You cant do #3 until 1 and 2 have been complete and are working. Pig is right though, download that all in one package deal and its alot easier. Install Mysql really doesnt require much editing, but install php does.

http://www.mysql.com/
www.php.net
www.phpbb.com

To control mysql you this http://www.mysql.com/products/mysqlcc/

I got a question. MySQL. How the hell do you create users and stuff so I can start manipulating databaseS? I have it married to IIS on my work box (win2k).

Something tells me i'm going to have to do some basic MySql stuff to get a feel for this really. Is there good place to start? lol, like... what can i do with it? and simple step by step tutorials for begginers? I searched but couldn't find anything Decent.

mysql is nothing on its own. It is only used (and useful) with a programming language. PHP is my favorite. Check out sitepoint.com for an article by kevin yank. It is a good intro. phpbuilder and webmonkey also have good articles.