nt/README.W32

   1 Copyright (C) 2001-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   2 See the end of the file for license conditions.
   3
   4                            Emacs for Windows
   5
   6   This README.W32 file describes how to set up and run a precompiled
   7   distribution of GNU Emacs for Windows.  You can find the precompiled
   8   distribution on the ftp.gnu.org server and its mirrors:
   9
  10         ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/
  11
  12   This server contains other distributions, including the full Emacs
  13   source distribution and a barebin distribution which can be installed
  14   over it, as well as older releases of Emacs for Windows.
  15
  16   Information on how to compile Emacs from sources on Windows is in
  17   the files README and INSTALL in this directory.  If you received
  18   this file as part of the Emacs source distribution, please read
  19   those 2 files and not this one.
  20
  21 * Preliminaries
  22
  23   Along with this file should be four subdirectories (bin, libexec,
  24   share, and var).
  25
  26 * Setting up Emacs
  27
  28   To install Emacs, simply unpack all the files into a directory of
  29   your choice, but note that you might encounter minor problems if
  30   there is a space anywhere in the directory name.  To complete the
  31   installation process, you can optionally run the program addpm.exe
  32   in the bin subdirectory.  This will put an icon for Emacs in the
  33   Start Menu under "Start -> Programs -> Gnu Emacs".
  34
  35   Some users have reported that the Start Menu item is not created for
  36   them.  If this happens, just create your own shortcut to runemacs.exe,
  37   eg. by dragging it on to the desktop or the Start button.
  38
  39   Note that running addpm is now an optional step; Emacs is able to
  40   locate all of its files without needing any information to be set in
  41   the environment or the registry, although such settings will still
  42   be obeyed if present.  This is convenient for running Emacs on a
  43   machine which disallows registry changes, or on which software
  44   should not be installed.  For instance, you can now run Emacs
  45   directly from a CD or USB flash drive without copying or installing
  46   anything on the machine itself.
  47
  48 * Prerequisites for Windows 9X
  49
  50   To run Emacs on Windows 9X (Windows 95/98/Me), you will need to have
  51   the Microsoft Layer for Unicode (MSLU) installed.  It can be
  52   downloaded from the Microsoft site, and comes in a form of a single
  53   dynamic library called UNICOWS.DLL.  If this library is not
  54   accessible to Emacs, it will pop up a dialog saying that it cannot
  55   find the library, and will refuse to start up a GUI session.
  56   (However, it is still possible to use Emacs in text mode, even
  57   without UNICOWS.DLL, by invoking it as "emacs -nw", see below.)
  58
  59 * Starting Emacs
  60
  61   To run Emacs, simply select Emacs from the Start Menu, or invoke
  62   runemacs.exe directly from Explorer or from a command prompt.  This
  63   will start Emacs in its default GUI mode, ready to use.  If you have
  64   never used Emacs before, you should follow the tutorial at this
  65   point (select Emacs Tutorial from the Help menu), since Emacs is
  66   quite different from ordinary Windows applications in many respects.
  67
  68   If you want to use Emacs in tty or character mode within a command
  69   window, you can start it by typing "emacs -nw" at the command prompt.
  70   (Obviously, you need to ensure that the Emacs bin subdirectory is in
  71   your PATH first, or specify the path to emacs.exe.)  The -nw
  72   (non-windowed) mode of operation is most useful if you have a telnet
  73   server on your machine, allowing you to run Emacs remotely.
  74
  75 * EXE files included
  76
  77   Emacs comes with the following executable files in the bin directory.
  78
  79   + emacs.exe - The main Emacs executable.  As this is designed to run
  80     as both a text-mode application (emacs -nw) and as a GUI application,
  81     it will pop up a command prompt window if run directly from Explorer.
  82
  83   + runemacs.exe - A wrapper for running Emacs as a GUI application
  84     without popping up a command prompt window.  If you create a
  85     desktop shortcut for invoking Emacs, make it point to this
  86     executable, not to emacs.exe.
  87
  88   + emacsclient.exe - A command-line client program that can
  89     communicate with a running Emacs process.  See the `Emacs Server'
  90     node of the Emacs manual.
  91
  92   + emacsclientw.exe - A version of emacsclient that does not open
  93     a command-line window.
  94
  95   + addpm.exe - A basic installer that creates Start Menu icons for Emacs.
  96     Running this is optional.
  97
  98   + ctags.exe, etags.exe - Tools for generating tag files.  See the
  99     `Tags' node of the Emacs manual.
 100
 101   + ebrowse.exe - A tool for generating C++ browse information.  See the
 102     `Ebrowse' manual.
 103
 104   Several helper programs are in a version-specific subdirectory of
 105   the libexec directory:
 106
 107   + cmdproxy.exe - Used internally by Emacs to work around problems with
 108     the native shells in various versions of Windows.
 109
 110   + ddeclient.exe - A tool for interacting with DDE servers.  To be
 111     invoked as "ddeclient SERVER [TOPIC]", where SERVER is the DDE
 112     server name, and sends each line of its standard input to the DDE
 113     server using the DdeClientTransaction API.  This program is
 114     supposed to be invoked via the 'call-process-region' Emacs
 115     primitive.
 116
 117   + hexl.exe - A tool for producing hex dumps of binary files.  See the
 118     `Editing Binary Files' node of the Emacs manual.
 119
 120   + movemail.exe - A helper application for safely moving mail from
 121     a mail spool or POP server to a local user mailbox.  See the
 122     `Movemail' node of the Emacs manual.
 123
 124   + profile.exe - A helper program that generates periodic events for
 125     profiling Emacs Lisp code.
 126
 127   + update-game-score.exe - A utility for updating the score files of
 128     Emacs games.
 129
 130 * Image support
 131
 132   Emacs has built in support for XBM and PPM/PGM/PBM images, and the
 133   libraries.  These libraries are all available on the following sites:
 134
 135   1. http://sourceforge.net/projects/ezwinports/files/
 136      -- leaner, more up-to-date builds, only for 32-bit Emacs
 137   2. http://www.gtk.org/download/win32.php
 138      http://www.gtk.org/download/win64.php
 139      -- GTK project site; offers much fatter builds, but includes 64-bit
 140         DLLs
 141   3. GnuWin32 project -- very old builds, not recommended
 142
 143   Emacs will find these libraries if the directory they are installed
 144   in is on the PATH.
 145
 146   Emacs can also support some other image formats with appropriate
 147   libraries.  These libraries are all available as part of GTK
 148   download for Windows (http://www.gtk.org/download/win32.php), or
 149   from the GnuWin32 project.  Emacs will find them if the directory
 150   they are installed in is on the PATH.
 151
 152       PNG: requires the PNG reference library 1.4 or later, which will
 153       be named libpngNN.dll or libpngNN-NN.dll.  LibPNG requires zlib,
 154       which should come from the same source as you got libpng.
 155       Starting with Emacs 23.3, the precompiled Emacs binaries are
 156       built with libpng 1.4.x and later, and are incompatible with
 157       earlier versions of libpng DLLs.  So if you have libpng 1.2.x,
 158       the PNG support will not work, and you will have to download
 159       newer versions.
 160
 161       JPEG: requires the Independent JPEG Group's libjpeg 6b or later,
 162       which will be called jpeg62.dll, libjpeg.dll, jpeg-62.dll or jpeg.dll.
 163
 164       TIFF: requires libTIFF 3.0 or later, which will be called libtiff3.dll
 165       or libtiff.dll.
 166
 167       GIF: requires libungif or giflib 4.1 or later, which will be
 168       called libgif-6.dll, giflib4.dll, libungif4.dll or libungif.dll.
 169
 170       SVG: requires librsvg 2.x whose DLL will be called
 171       librsvg-2-2.dll.  SVG also requires several dependency DLLs,
 172       such as Pango, Cairo, and Glib, all of them found on the
 173       above-mentioned sites.  If you download from the ezwinports
 174       site, you need only librsvg-2.nn.x-bin.zip, it comes with all
 175       the other dependencies bundled.
 176
 177    If you have image support DLLs under different names, customize the
 178    value of `dynamic-library-alist'.
 179
 180    In addition, Emacs can be compiled to support SVG.  This precompiled
 181    distribution has not been compiled that way, since the SVG library
 182    or one or more of its extensive dependencies appear to be
 183    unreliable under Windows.  See nt/INSTALL in the src distribution if
 184    you wish to compile Emacs with SVG support.
 185
 186 * GnuTLS support
 187
 188   In order to support GnuTLS at runtime, Emacs must be able to find
 189   the relevant DLLs during startup; failure to do so is not an error,
 190   but GnuTLS won't be available to the running session.
 191
 192   You can get pre-built binaries (including any dependency DLLs) at
 193   http://sourceforge.net/projects/ezwinports/files/.
 194
 195 * libxml2 support
 196
 197   In order to support libxml2 at runtime, a libxml2-enabled Emacs must
 198   be able to find the relevant DLLs during startup; failure to do so
 199   is not an error, but libxml2 features won't be available to the
 200   running session.
 201
 202   You can get pre-built binaries (including any required DLL and the
 203   header files) at http://sourceforge.net/projects/ezwinports/files/.
 204
 205 * Uninstalling Emacs
 206
 207   If you should need to uninstall Emacs, simply delete all the files
 208   and subdirectories from the directory where it was unpacked (Emacs
 209   does not install or update any files in system directories or
 210   anywhere else).  If you ran the addpm.exe program to create the
 211   registry entries and the Start menu icon, then you can remove the
 212   registry entries using regedit.  All of the settings are written
 213   under the Software\GNU\Emacs key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or if you
 214   didn't have administrator privileges when you installed, the same
 215   key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.  Just delete the whole Software\GNU\Emacs
 216   key.
 217
 218   The Start menu entry can be removed by right-clicking on the Task bar
 219   and selecting Properties, then using the Remove option on the Start
 220   Menu Programs page.  (If you installed under an account with
 221   administrator privileges, then you need to click the Advanced button
 222   and look for the Gnu Emacs menu item under All Users.)
 223
 224 * Troubleshooting
 225
 226   Unpacking the distributions
 227
 228   If you encounter trouble trying to run Emacs, there are a number of
 229   possible causes.  Check the following for indications that the
 230   distribution was not corrupted by the tools used to unpack it:
 231
 232     * Be sure to disable CR/LF translation or the executables will
 233       be unusable.  Older versions of WinZipNT would enable this
 234       translation by default.  If you are using WinZipNT, disable it.
 235       (I don't have WinZipNT myself, and I do not know the specific
 236       commands necessary to disable it.)
 237
 238     * Check that filenames were not truncated to 8.3.  For example,
 239       there should be a file lisp\abbrevlist.elc; if this has been
 240       truncated to abbrevli.elc, your distribution has been corrupted
 241       while unpacking and Emacs will not start.
 242
 243     * On Windows 9X, make sure you have the UNICOWS.DLL library either
 244       in the same directory where you have emacs.exe or in the
 245       directory where system-wide DLLs are kept.
 246
 247   If you believe you have unpacked the distributions correctly and are
 248   still encountering problems, see the section on Further Information
 249   below.
 250
 251   Virus scanners
 252
 253   Some virus scanners interfere with Emacs' use of subprocesses.  If you
 254   are unable to use subprocesses and you use Dr. Solomon's WinGuard or
 255   McAfee's Vshield, turn off "Scan all files" (WinGuard) or "boot sector
 256   scanning" (McAfee exclusion properties).
 257
 258 * Further information
 259
 260   The FAQ for the MS Windows port of Emacs is distributed with Emacs
 261   (info manual "efaq-w32"), and also available at
 262
 263         http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/efaq-w32.html
 264
 265   In addition to the FAQ, there is a mailing list for discussing issues
 266   related to the Windows port of Emacs.  For information about the
 267   list, see this Web page:
 268
 269         http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows
 270
 271   To ask questions on the mailing list, send email to
 272   help-emacs-windows@gnu.org.  (You don't need to subscribe for that.)
 273   To subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it, fill the form you
 274   find at http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows as
 275   explained there.
 276
 277   Another valuable source of information and help which should not be
 278   overlooked is the various Usenet news groups dedicated to Emacs.
 279   These are particularly good for help with general issues which aren't
 280   specific to the Windows port of Emacs.  The main news groups to use
 281   for seeking help are:
 282
 283         gnu.emacs.help
 284         comp.emacs
 285
 286   There are also fairly regular postings and announcements of new or
 287   updated Emacs packages on this group:
 288
 289         gnu.emacs.sources
 290
 291 * Reporting bugs
 292
 293   If you encounter a bug in this port of Emacs, we would like to hear
 294   about it.  First check the FAQ on the web page above to see if the bug
 295   is already known and if there are any workarounds.  Then check whether
 296   the bug has something to do with code in your .emacs file, e.g. by
 297   invoking Emacs with the "-Q" option.
 298
 299   If you decide that it is a bug in Emacs, use the built in bug
 300   reporting facility to report it (from the menu; Help -> Send Bug Report).
 301   If you have not yet configured Emacs for mail, then when you press
 302   C-c C-c to send the report, it will ask you to paste the text of the
 303   report into your mail client.  If the bug is related to subprocesses,
 304   also specify which shell you are using (e.g., include the values of
 305   `shell-file-name' and `explicit-shell-file-name' in your message).
 306
 307   Enjoy!
 308
 309 \f
 310 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
 311
 312 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 313 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 314 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 315 (at your option) any later version.
 316
 317 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 318 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 319 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 320 GNU General Public License for more details.
 321
 322 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 323 along with GNU Emacs.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.