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72d40630 | 1 | Emacs for Windows NT and Windows 95/98/2000/XP |
31098a38 | 2 | |
31098a38 | 3 | This README file describes how to set up and run a precompiled version |
72d40630 EZ |
4 | of GNU Emacs for Windows NT and Windows 95/98/2000/XP. This |
5 | distribution can be found on the ftp.gnu.org server and its mirrors: | |
31098a38 | 6 | |
72d40630 | 7 | ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/windows/emacs/latest/ |
31098a38 AI |
8 | |
9 | This server contains other distributions, including the full Emacs | |
10 | source distribution and the lisp source distribution, as well as older | |
11 | releases of Emacs for Windows. | |
12 | ||
13 | Answers to frequently asked questions, and further information about | |
14 | this port of GNU Emacs and related software packages can be found via | |
15 | http or ftp: | |
16 | ||
17 | http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html | |
18 | ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/windows/emacs/docs/ntemacs.html | |
19 | ||
20 | * Preliminaries | |
21 | ||
22 | Along with this file should be six subdirectories (bin, etc, info, | |
23 | lisp, lock, site-lisp). Depending on which distribution you have | |
24 | installed, the lisp subdirectory might contain both the lisp source | |
25 | (*.el) and compiled lisp files (*.elc), or just the compiled lisp | |
26 | files. If you don't have the lisp source files, you can obtain them | |
27 | by downloading the lisp source distribution or the full source | |
28 | distribution from the ftp site mentioned above. | |
29 | ||
30 | * Setting up Emacs | |
31 | ||
32 | To install Emacs, simply unpack all the files into a directory of your | |
33 | choice, but note that you might encounter minor problems if there is a | |
34 | space anywhere in the directory name. To complete the installation | |
35 | process, you can optionally run the program addpm.exe in the bin | |
36 | subdirectory. This will add some entries to the registry that tell | |
37 | Emacs where to find its support files, and put an icon for Emacs in | |
38 | the Start Menu under "Start -> Programs -> Gnu Emacs -> Emacs". | |
39 | ||
40 | Some users have reported that the Start Menu item is not created for | |
41 | them. If this happens, just create your own shortcut to runemacs.exe, | |
42 | eg. by dragging it on to the desktop or the Start button. | |
43 | ||
44 | Note that running addpm is now an optional step; Emacs is able to | |
45 | locate all of its files without needing the information to be set in | |
46 | the environment or the registry, although such settings will still be | |
47 | obeyed if present. This is convenient for running Emacs on a machine | |
48 | which disallows registry changes, or on which software should not be | |
49 | installed. For instance, you can now run Emacs directly from a CD | |
50 | without copying or installing anything on the machine itself. | |
51 | ||
52 | * Starting Emacs | |
53 | ||
54 | To run Emacs, simply select Emacs from the Start Menu, or invoke | |
55 | runemacs.exe directly from Explorer or a command prompt. This will | |
56 | start Emacs in its default GUI mode, ready to use. If you have never | |
57 | used Emacs before, you should follow the tutorial at this point | |
58 | (select Emacs Tutorial from the Help menu), since Emacs is quite | |
59 | different from ordinary Windows applications in many respects. | |
60 | ||
61 | If you want to use Emacs in tty or character mode within a command | |
62 | window, you can start it by typing "emacs -nw" at the command prompt. | |
63 | (Obviously, you need to ensure that the Emacs bin subdirectory is in | |
64 | your PATH first, or specify the path to emacs.exe.) The -nw | |
65 | (non-windowed) mode of operation is most useful if you have a telnet | |
66 | server on your machine, allowing you to run Emacs remotely. | |
67 | ||
68 | * Uninstalling Emacs | |
69 | ||
70 | If you should need to uninstall Emacs, simply delete all the files and | |
71 | subdirectories from the directory where it was unpacked (Emacs does | |
72 | not install or update any files in system directories or anywhere | |
73 | else). If you ran the addpm.exe program to create the registry | |
74 | entries and the Start menu icon, then you can remove the registry | |
75 | entries using regedit. All of the settings are written under the | |
76 | Software\GNU\Emacs key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or if you didn't have | |
77 | administrator privileges, the same key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Just | |
78 | delete the Software\GNU\Emacs key. | |
79 | ||
80 | The Start menu entry can be removed by right-clicking on the Task bar | |
81 | and selecting Properties, then using the Remove option on the Start | |
82 | Menu Programs page. (If you installed under an account with | |
83 | administrator privileges, then you need to click the Advanced button | |
84 | and look for the Gnu Emacs menu item under All Users.) | |
85 | ||
86 | * Troubleshooting | |
87 | ||
88 | Unpacking the distributions | |
89 | ||
90 | If you encounter trouble trying to run Emacs, there are a number of | |
91 | possible causes. If you didn't use the versions of tar and gunzip (or | |
92 | djtarnt) on the above ftp site, it is possible that the distribution | |
93 | became corrupted while it was being unpacked. Check the following for | |
94 | indications that the distribution was not corrupted: | |
95 | ||
96 | * Be sure to disable the CR/LF translation or the executables will | |
97 | be unusable. Older versions of WinZipNT would enable this | |
98 | translation by default. If you are using WinZipNT, disable it. | |
99 | (I don't have WinZipNT myself, and I do not know the specific | |
100 | commands necessary to disable it.) | |
101 | ||
102 | * Check that filenames were not truncated to 8.3. For example, | |
103 | there should be a file lisp\abbrevlist.elc; if this has been | |
104 | truncated to abbrevli.elc, your distribution has been corrupted | |
105 | while unpacking and Emacs will not start. | |
106 | ||
107 | * Users have said that some utilities (WinZip again?) don't create | |
108 | the lock subdirectory. You can create the lock directory by hand | |
109 | (it is normally empty). | |
110 | ||
111 | * Users have also reported that the gnu-win32 tar corrupts the | |
112 | executables. Use the version of tar or djtarnt on the ftp.gnu.org | |
113 | site instead. | |
114 | ||
115 | If you believe you have unpacked the distributions correctly and are | |
116 | still encountering problems, see the section on Further Information | |
117 | below. | |
118 | ||
119 | Virus scanners | |
120 | ||
121 | Some virus scanners interfere with Emacs' use of subprocesses. If you | |
122 | are unable to use subprocesses and you use Dr. Solomon's WinGuard or | |
123 | McAfee's Vshield, turn off "Scan all files" (WinGuard) or "boot sector | |
124 | scanning" (McAfee exclusion properties). | |
125 | ||
126 | * Further information | |
127 | ||
128 | If you have access to the World Wide Web, I would recommend pointing | |
129 | your favorite web browser to following the document (if you haven't | |
130 | already): | |
131 | ||
132 | http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html | |
133 | ||
134 | This document serves as an FAQ and a source for further information | |
135 | about the Windows port and related software packages. | |
136 | ||
137 | In addition to the FAQ, there is a mailing list for discussing issues | |
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138 | related to the Windows port of Emacs. For information about the |
139 | list, see this Web page: | |
140 | ||
141 | http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows | |
142 | ||
143 | To ask questions on the mailing list, send email to | |
144 | help-emacs-windows@gnu.org. (You don't need to subscribe for that.) | |
145 | To subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it, fill the form you | |
146 | find at http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows as | |
147 | explained there. | |
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148 | |
149 | Another valuable source of information and help which should not be | |
150 | overlooked is the various Usenet news groups dedicated to Emacs. | |
151 | These are particuarly good for help with general issues which aren't | |
152 | specific to the Windows port of Emacs. The main news groups to use | |
153 | for seeking help are: | |
154 | ||
155 | gnu.emacs.help | |
156 | comp.emacs | |
157 | ||
158 | There are also fairly regular postings and announcements of new or | |
159 | updated Emacs packages on this group: | |
160 | ||
161 | gnu.emacs.sources | |
162 | ||
163 | * Reporting bugs | |
164 | ||
165 | If you encounter a bug in this port of Emacs, we would like to hear | |
166 | about it. First check the FAQ on the web page above to see if the bug | |
167 | is already known and if there are any workarounds. Then check whether | |
168 | the bug has something to do with code in your .emacs file, e.g. by | |
169 | invoking Emacs with the "-q --no-site-file" options. | |
170 | ||
171 | If you decide that it is a bug in Emacs that might be specific to the | |
172 | Windows port, send a message to the ntemacs-users@cs.washington.edu | |
173 | mailing list describing the bug, the version of Emacs that you are | |
174 | using, and the operating system that you are running on (Windows NT, | |
175 | 2000, 95 or 98 including service pack level if known). If the bug is | |
176 | related to subprocesses, also specify which shell you are using (e.g., | |
177 | include the values of `shell-file-name' and `shell-explicit-file-name' | |
178 | in your message). | |
179 | ||
180 | If you think the bug is not specific to the Windows port of Emacs, | |
181 | then it is better to mail the bug report to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org so | |
182 | that it will be seen by the right people. If Emacs has been set up to | |
183 | send mail, you can use the command M-x report-emacs-bug to create and | |
184 | send the bug report, but in some cases there is a function to report | |
185 | bugs in a specific package; e.g. M-x gnus-bug for Gnus, M-x | |
186 | c-submit-bug-report for C/C++/Java mode, etc. | |
187 | ||
678c6e62 | 188 | Enjoy! |