diff --git a/bucket/mysql.json b/bucket/mysql.json
index efafa0b2d3..4920056ff0 100644
--- a/bucket/mysql.json
+++ b/bucket/mysql.json
@@ -39,23 +39,35 @@
         "bin/perror.exe",
         "bin/zlib_decompress.exe"
     ],
-    "persist": "data",
-    "post_install": [
-        "if (!(Test-Path \"$dir/my.ini\")) {",
+    "persist": [
+        "data",
+        "my.ini"
+    ],
+    "pre_install": [
+        "$ini = \"$dir\\my.ini\"",
+        "if (!(Test-Path \"$ini\")) {",
         "   # Using $dir instead of $persist_dir, causes this error:",
-        "   # [ERROR] [MY-010187] [Server] Could not open file 'C:/Users/ex/scoop/apps/mysql/current/data/host.err' for error logging: Permission denied",
-        "   $dir_u = ($persist_dir -replace '\\\\', '/')",
-        "   Add-Content \"$dir/my.ini\" '[mysqld]' -Encoding Ascii",
-        "   Add-Content \"$dir/my.ini\" \"datadir=$dir_u/data\" -Encoding Ascii",
+        "   # [ERROR] [MY-010187] [Server] Could not open file '~/scoop/apps/mysql/current/data/host.err' for error logging: Permission denied",
+        "   Add-Content -Path \"$ini\" -Value \"[mysqld]`ndatadir=$($persist_dir -replace '\\\\', '/')/data\" -Encoding Ascii",
         "   # Set username so it's not required when connecting",
-        "   Add-Content \"$dir/my.ini\" '[client]' -Encoding Ascii",
-        "   Add-Content \"$dir/my.ini\" 'user=root' -Encoding Ascii",
-        "}",
-        "if (!(Test-Path \"$dir/data\\auto.cnf\")) {",
-        "   # Initialize data directory (without generating root password)",
-        "   mysqld.exe --initialize-insecure",
+        "   Add-Content -Path \"$ini\" -Value \"[client]`nuser=root\" -Encoding Ascii",
         "}"
     ],
+    "post_install": [
+        "if (!(Test-Path \"$dir\\data\\auto.cnf\")) {",
+        "    warn 'Initializing data directory ...'",
+        "    Invoke-ExternalCommand -FilePath \"$dir\\bin\\mysqld.exe\" -ArgumentList '--initialize-insecure'",
+        "    warn 'Database has been initialized (username: root, password: <blank>)'",
+        "}"
+    ],
+    "notes": [
+        "Run 'mysqld --standalone' or 'mysqld --console' to start the Database,",
+        "or run following command as administrator to register MySQL as a service. See: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/en/windows-start-service.html",
+        "",
+        "mysqld --install MySQL --defaults-file=\"$dir\\my.ini\"",
+        "",
+        "To stop and/or delete the Service run 'sc stop MySQL' and 'sc delete MySQL'."
+    ],
     "checkver": {
         "url": "https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/",
         "re": "<h1>MySQL Community Server ([\\d.]+)"