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If you have hundreds of databases and want to restore all of them, these Best Practices are for you.

Individual database restore is much slower then a straight raw file restore of your MySQL data directory. When databases are restored individually (see [Restore a MySQL database to the original location]), each row must be selected and inserted and this takes a very long time. So we recommend to shut down your MySQL instance and restore your MySQL data directory using the *file restore* feature (see [Restore files]). Follow the instructions below.

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h3. Windows

1. Identify the MySQL {{data}} directory.

!mysql1.png!

2. Stop the MySQL instance. The following screen-shot shows how to do it using the Windows MySQL Administrator.

!mysql2.png!

Alternatively, if you are using Windows, you can stop the MySQL service just like any other service. Open a command prompt (click "Start", select "Run", type {color:blue}cmd{color}, and click OK), type the following command and press <Enter>:

{code}net stop MySQL{code}

3. Move the contents of the data directory to another location as a backup.

4. Use the Backup Manager to perform a file restore of the MySQL {{data}} directory. Refer to [Restore files].

5. Start the MySQL instance. The following screen-shot shows how to do it using the Windows MySQL Administrator:

!mysql3.png!

Alternatively,you can start the MySQL service just like any other service. Open a command prompt (click "Start", select "Run", type {color:blue}cmd{color}, and click OK), type the following command and press <Enter>:

{code}net start MySQL{code}

h3. Linux

1. Identify the MySQL {{data}} directory. For this purpose you can use the {{show variables}} command as shown below.

!show-var.png!

2. Stop the MySQL instance using the following command:

{code}/etc/init.d/mysql stop{code}

!stop1.png!

3. Move the contents of the {{data}} directory to another location as a backup.

!cp.png!

4. Use the Backup Manager to perform a file restore of the MySQL {{data}} directory. Refer to [Restore files].

5. Start the MySQL instance using the following command:

{code}/etc/init.d/mysql start{code}

!start1.png!

{excerpt:hidden=true}Best practices for restoring an entire MySQL instance on Windows and Linux.{excerpt}