Upgrade MySQL on Plesk on Windows

I just got a nasty surprise when I installed a website in Unicode Hindi (Indian language) on a server, all freshly entered unicode data is turning into question marks on the server. On my dev machine it works perfectly.

I found that I have MySQL version 5.0.45 (installed in default by Plesk I guess). On my dev machine i have version 5.1.33.

I believe the problem could be due to the version difference. The new version of MySQL apparently has better support for Unicode than the older one.

I want to upgrade MySQL on my Windows Server machine with Plesk installed on it

I am reluctant to just install the new version using the mysql installer because Plesk maintains some custom settings for mysql and I am afraid the new version could change those settings and break my db.

Can anyone tell me do I have to do anything special to install MySQL on plesk on windows or can I just use the new version installer?

From serverfault Cyril Gupta

• Here's an article on upgrading MySQL with Plesk http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=102016. Though it is meant for Linux, a similar process can be used on windows as well.

  From Plesk Hacker

• I don't think the problem is related to MySQL, as any version bigger than 5 should handle Uincode sufficiently. How did you enter the data into the server?

  From battal