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<p>Most years I have to help students with installing LaTeX, etc
onto their PCs (I use a Mac).</p>
<p>As with them, I suggest you go to
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/texlive/Images">https://ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/texlive/Images</a></p>
<p>Download the iso image and mount it onto your computer. This page
describes what to do: <br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://tug.org/texlive/quickinstall.html">https://tug.org/texlive/quickinstall.html</a><br>
</p>
<p>Go to the mounted image and run install-tl-windows.exe this will
probably install TeXWorks but people seem to like TeXStudio
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.texstudio.org">https://www.texstudio.org</a>). I have never used PCTeX so can't
comment on similarities.<br>
</p>
<p>HIH</p>
<p>Alan<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 25/05/21 11:23 am, Robert Jantzen
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:MN2PR03MB4991AADCF60A6914987503D29A269@MN2PR03MB4991.namprd03.prod.outlook.com">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear TUG,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have been an individual sustaining member
of TUG for over 30 years. In my early days at Villanova
University in the 80s and early 90s, I ran a local “Delaware
Valley TUG” with monthly meetings during semesters and Anita
Schwartz used to attend occasionally when she was active with
the national TUG leadership. Barbara Beeton saved me with
crucial help on a table of contents macro that I created last
century for a triennial general relativity meeting whose
monster proceedings I edited since then<br>
<a
href="http://www34.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen/mg/procs/index.htm"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www34.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen/mg/procs/index.htm</a>
(thanks Barbara!)<br>
We even had a local Tex Wizzard workshop with Stephan
Bechtolsheim (ancient history, but Barbara will remember him).
Last century of course. Time marches on.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have been happily using PCTeX all these
years, and will continue to do so but it seems like PCTeX has
left us in the past two years since I communicated with
someone there at the company. Does anyone know what happened
to them?<br>
<a href="https://www.pctex.com/" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.pctex.com/</a>
website seems abandoned<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Is there any other for pay product to
replace it?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On my previous work laptop at Villanova
University (which for many years was an institutional member)
I had managed to install both MikTex and TexnicCenter, the
latter interface advised by my TeXpert friend at the
university of Rome, but when I tried to put them on my new
laptop 2 years ago, I ran into a problem and gave up.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yesterday a friend emailed me about his
friend and collaborator working on publishing unpublished work
by a famous physicist, having trouble with MikTex not finding
the right folder… but I am NOT a software guy, just a simple
user. Nevertheless I downloaded and installed from scratch
MikTeX then TexnicCenter and opened the latter to configure
it, but it derailed when I had to put in the folder address of
the MikTex latex files.
<br>
<br>
I searched for the MikTex “bin” folder but found no trace of
these new files I downloaded and installed yesterday, and only
MikTex 2.9 from 2019, but no “bin” folder. I tried to delete
both programs (MikTex appeared in the list from my
installation yesterday), but MikTex 2.9 won’t be deleted. It
reports an error. My university Help Desk also could not
delete it, so currently an open Help Desk ticket has been
opened for this. TeXworks still will typeset a simple file.
Hmm.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My friend in Rome told me exactly the
folder address I needed for TeXnicCenter to configure itself<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in">"<folder_where_you_instelled_MikTeX>\miktex\bin\x64\"<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in">(e.g.
"C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\x64\")<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately such a folder I could not
find! He told me TexnicCenter is frozen for 6-7 years already
but he still uses it because he prefers the interface. There
is also TexWorks for me to try within MikTeX yet but not with
the latest MikTex distribution until I can get my help desk to
blow away that older distribution. Or maybe it is the latest
distribution since my help desk person first upgraded MikTex
and then updated it, but the filenames are all dated 2019 two
years ago when I failed to successfully configure
TeXnicCenter.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why am I writing this email?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have been blissfully unaware of how
frustrating it can be for a nonexpert to install a free TeX
distribution with present resources available. How can TeX
expect to survive with such obstacles? What is it that I am
missing?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Every year I get a TUG DVD, but my laptop
does not have a DVD/CD reader of course…I am guessing that is
more for group administrators or computer savvy people?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why isn’t there a self-installing complete
setup for Windows LaTeX? Does TeX Live also suffer from these
installation procedures which require user input, input that
is not clearly specified anywhere?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t expect resolution of my local
problems, but I would like assurance that ordinary people can
install easily a working LaTeX system. I would love to try it
myself. I would even pay a reasonable fee.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for all your years of dedicated
work, whoever reads this.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">bob<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img style="width:2.4652in;height:1.25in"
id="Picture_x0020_1"
src="cid:part3.62648804.91B880DE@alphabyte.co.nz" alt="A
picture containing text, linedrawing
Description automatically generated" class="" width="237"
height="120" border="0"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">bob jantzen<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="http://www34.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen/"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www34.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.drbobenterprises.com/"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.drbobenterprises.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dr Alan Litchfield
AlphaByte
PO Box 1941
Auckland, New Zealand 1140</pre>
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