Here's how to set a password for the root user in mySQL: 1. open a DOS window (start menu - run... - type cmd) 2. change to the mySQL bin folder, eg: cd /mysql/bin 3. open a mySQL command line with mysql -u root mysql 4. set a password with SET PASSWORD FOR root@localhost=PASSWORD('your_password_here'); 5. restart the mySQL service Depending on which authentication method you're using for phpMyAdmin, you might need to save that password in its own configuration file (config.inc.php) too.