Hi,
I noticed no one seems to know the answer so I looked through the manual and the only thing I could guess at from what it says:
The quote was copied from: http://www.mysql.com/doc/R/e/Resetting_permissions.html (For the untrustful ones.)
Sorry couldnt be more use and I just realised I have no idea what my root password is! :)
At least you know how to fix that. ;-) Good luck... Nico