Five easy steps to reset MySQL root password.

1. Stop the MySQL server.
2. Start the MySQL server with the --skip-grant-tables option. (it will not prompt for password)
3. Connect to MySQL server as the root user. 
4. Setup new MySQL root password.
5. Exit and restart the MySQL server. 

### Shell Commands ###
/etc/init.d/mysql stop
mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables & 
mysql -u root

### SQL Commands ###
use mysql;
UPDATE user SET password=PASSWORD("new-password") WHERE user='root';
flush privileges;
exit

### Shell Commands ###
/etc/init.d/mysql stop
/etc/init.d/mysql start
mysql -u root -pnew-password