restoring myisam mysql db on a different machine

Solution 1:

information_schema is the information database where the information about all the other databases is kept. It is a built-in virtual database with the sole purpose of providing information about the database system itself. The MySQL server automatically populates the tables in the information_schema.

reference: http://kb.siteground.com/article/What_is_the_information_schema_database.html

So if its myisam tables only, you can copy / move database around as long as the mysql versions are same.

Solution 2:

Six years after this question was asked, I had to copy an 80 million row MYISAM table to a backup database (it was using 80% of the disk space of our whole database).

I took the .MYI, .MYD, and .FRM files from the nightly backup, and copied them to the folder of a new running database. The information_schema was updated almost immediately, and all table operations worked as expected (ie the indexes and stuff were correct).
I'll run CHECK TABLE and OPTIMISE TABLE on them before sending them into a quiet retirement, but this backup method was painless.