TeX on a PC with 32-bit Windows
Overview
- To set up for TeX'ing on a PC, you'll need a version of TeX and
a way to preview and print postscript files. I recommend getting
MikTeX (free!) and Ghostscript/GSview (free!). I also recommend
an editor that you can use to call TeX and Ghostscript directly,
like WinEdt (shareware, but cheap!).
- You probably should look through this
guide
to installing a TeX system of MikTeX, Ghostscript/GSView, and
WinEdt (although it may have more detail than you need).
I recommend installing the 32-bit WinEdT.
- Basically you just need to do is to grab these three components following
the links given below. They all have setup programs that do essentially all
the installation for you.
- Unless you really know your way around Windows, I strongly
recommend accepting all of the defaults when you run the setup
programs (e.g., where the program files go).
MikTeX
- MikTeX is a standard TeX distribution, with everything you need
(LaTeX, dvi previewer, dvi-to-postscript converter) except for
special LaTeX style files.
- Go to the MikTeX page.
- The download
page is self-explanatory. If you're starting from scratch,
you'll want the "complete" distribution.
- MikTeX will generate font files automatically the first time they
are needed (so run a couple of long papers when you first set up).
The default is to generate 600dpi fonts.
Editors
WinEdt
- WinEdt is a shareware editor that comes already configured to use
MikTeX and GSview. You can try it out for a month or so before paying
(something like $35).
- Go to the WinEDT home page.
- From the downloads section you can get something like
the self-extracting archive
WinEdt32
(2.1MB) [self extracting archive winedt32.exe (1.414 v.19-8)]
- Also read the WinEdt32
and MikTeX page (although the instructions to set up the PATH
should be superfluous; the setup program should do this).
UltraEdit
Postscript Previewing and Printing
- Get GSview
by downloading the latest self-extracting file. This one file
(gsvXXXXX.exe below) has everything you need!
- As of 12/28/98, this means going to the
page
for Aladdin Ghostscript 5.50 and getting
the self-extracting EXE
gsv27550.exe,
which contains GSview 2.7 and Aladdin Ghostscript 5.50 for Win32
3429376 bytes.
(So you really only need to click on that last link.)
- GSview is a graphical interface for Ghostscript
with many useful
features.
Use it to preview then print your postscript file.
Unzipper
- You'll need to have an unzipping program (the programs come as
compressed "archives" of files, which are called zip files).
- If you don't have unzip or equivalent, get it from
here.
Make sure unzip.exe is installed in a directory
which is in the system search path.
TeX on a PC with 32-bit Windows.
Last modified: Wednesday, 10-Nov-1999 12:48:59 EST.
furnstah@mps.ohio-state.edu