$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'xampp'; /* YOU SHOULD CHANGE THIS FOR A MORE SECURE COOKIE AUTH! */
$i = 0;
$i++;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'config';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = 'localhost';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['connect_type'] = 'tcp';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['compress'] = false;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'password';  //-- updated this but still no success.
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['extension'] = 'mysql';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPassword'] = true;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controluser'] = 'pma';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controlpass'] = '';

#2000 - mysqlnd cannot connect to MySQL 4.1+ using the old insecure
authentication. Please use an administration tool to reset your password
with the command SET PASSWORD = PASSWORD('your_existing_password').
This will store a new, and more secure, hash value in mysql.user.
If this user is used in other scripts executed by PHP 5.2 or earlier you
might need to remove the old-passwords flag from your my.cnf file