Copy one mysql db to another server

[eluser]esra[/eluser]
In Windows and in a localhost development environment, I know this is possible if the two MySQL servers are the same version by just dragging and dropping directories on the same machine or through a shared network directory. I would imagine that you could archive the directory and move it to a remote server using that basic approach. I sometimes make database backups quickly using this approach just before making major schema changes. It might also work if there are minor MySQL version differences.

However, I always use Michael's phpMyAdmin approach when transferring data to production servers.