MariaDB 5.2.5 and earlier

On Windows Vista/7 , changes to database or my.ini are not persistent, when mysqld.exe is run from the command line.

The reason for this behavior is Vista/Win7 file system redirection. Writes to protected locations (in this case a subdirectory of Program Files) are redirected to the user's so-called "Virtual Store".

Workarounds:

• Run mysqld.exe as service. See answer here on how to create a MariaDB service.
• Run mysqld.exe from the elevated command prompt.
• Change the ACL of the data directory and add full control for the current user.

The Windows installer for MariaDB 5.2.6 and higher will set the data directory ACL to include full access rights for the user who runs the setup to prevent this issue from happening.

Systems with User Account Control

Running mysql_install_db.exe from a standard command prompt might cause the error:

FATAL ERROR: OpenSCManager failed

To get rid of it, use the elevated command prompt, for example on Windows 7 start it via 'Run as administrator' option.