How to purge the Database data and log files in MySQL ?

Question

I want to purge the ibdata1, ib_logfile0 and ib_logfile1 files in MySQL. Because these files are taking too much space of my C:\ disk. And I don't want to move these files anywhere else in the Hard disk. I heard about purging which can shrink the data. I am using Windows Vista. What are the steps to be done to purge the data ?

Answer 1

The log files can be removed anytime. Only the most recent log is kept open/locked. However, deleting id_data will trash all of your InnoDB databases - that's the actual data store.