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[emacs.git] / nt / README.W32

Copyright (C) 2001-2011  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
See the end of the file for license conditions.

                           Emacs for Windows

  This README file describes how to set up and run a precompiled
  version of GNU Emacs for Windows.  This distribution can be found on
  the ftp.gnu.org server and its mirrors:

        ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/

  This server contains other distributions, including the full Emacs
  source distribution and a barebin distribution which can be installed
  over it, as well as older releases of Emacs for Windows.

  Answers to frequently asked questions, and further information about
  this port of GNU Emacs and related software packages can be found via
  http:

        http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/

* Preliminaries

  Along with this file should be six subdirectories (bin, etc, info,
  lisp, leim, site-lisp).  If you have downloaded the barebin
  distribution, then it will contain only the bin directory and the
  built in documentation in etc/DOC-X, the rest of the subdirectories
  are in the src distribution, which the barebin distribution is
  designed to be used with.

* Setting up Emacs

  To install Emacs, simply unpack all the files into a directory of
  your choice, but note that you might encounter minor problems if
  there is a space anywhere in the directory name.  To complete the
  installation process, you can optionally run the program addpm.exe
  in the bin subdirectory.  This will put an icon for Emacs in the
  Start Menu under "Start -> Programs -> Gnu Emacs".

  Some users have reported that the Start Menu item is not created for
  them.  If this happens, just create your own shortcut to runemacs.exe,
  eg. by dragging it on to the desktop or the Start button.

  Note that running addpm is now an optional step; Emacs is able to
  locate all of its files without needing any information to be set in
  the environment or the registry, although such settings will still
  be obeyed if present.  This is convenient for running Emacs on a
  machine which disallows registry changes, or on which software
  should not be installed.  For instance, you can now run Emacs
  directly from a CD or USB flash drive without copying or installing
  anything on the machine itself.

* Starting Emacs

  To run Emacs, simply select Emacs from the Start Menu, or invoke
  runemacs.exe directly from Explorer or from a command prompt.  This
  will start Emacs in its default GUI mode, ready to use.  If you have
  never used Emacs before, you should follow the tutorial at this
  point (select Emacs Tutorial from the Help menu), since Emacs is
  quite different from ordinary Windows applications in many respects.

  If you want to use Emacs in tty or character mode within a command
  window, you can start it by typing "emacs -nw" at the command prompt.
  (Obviously, you need to ensure that the Emacs bin subdirectory is in
  your PATH first, or specify the path to emacs.exe.)  The -nw
  (non-windowed) mode of operation is most useful if you have a telnet
  server on your machine, allowing you to run Emacs remotely.

* EXE files included

  Emacs comes with the following executable files in the bin directory.

  + emacs.exe - The main Emacs executable.  As this is designed to run
    as both a text-mode application (emacs -nw) and as a GUI application,
    it will pop up a command prompt window if run directly from Explorer.

  + runemacs.exe - A wrapper for running Emacs as a GUI application
    without popping up a command prompt window.

  + emacsclient.exe - A command-line client program that can
    communicate with a running Emacs process.  See the `Emacs Server'
    node of the Emacs manual.

  + emacsclientw.exe - A version of emacsclient that does not open
    a command-line window.

  + addpm.exe - A basic installer that creates Start Menu icons for Emacs.
    Running this is optional.

  + cmdproxy.exe - Used internally by Emacs to work around problems with
    the native shells in various versions of Windows.

  + ctags.exe, etags.exe - Tools for generating tag files.  See the
    `Tags' node of the Emacs manual.

  + ebrowse.exe - A tool for generating C++ browse information.  See the
    `Ebrowse' manual.

  + ddeclient.exe - A tool for interacting with DDE servers.

  + hexl.exe - A tool for converting files to hex dumps.  See the
    `Editing Binary Files' node of the Emacs manual.

  + movemail.exe - A helper application for safely moving mail from
    a mail spool or POP server to a local user mailbox.  See the
    `Movemail' node of the Emacs manual.

* Image support

  Emacs has built in support for XBM and PPM/PGM/PBM images, and the
  libXpm library is bundled, providing XPM support (required for color
  toolbar icons and splash screen).  Source for libXpm should be available
  on the same place as you got this binary distribution from.  The version
  of libXpm bundled with this version of Emacs is 3.5.7, based on x.org's
  libXpm library from X11R7.3.

  Emacs can also support some other image formats with appropriate
  libraries.  These libraries are all available as part of GTK
  download for Windows (http://www.gtk.org/download-windows.html), or
  from the GnuWin32 project.  Emacs will find them if the directory
  they are installed in is on the PATH.

      PNG: requires the PNG reference library 1.4 or later, which will
      be named libpng14.dll or libpng14-14.dll.  LibPNG requires zlib,
      which should come from the same source as you got libpng.
      Starting with Emacs 23.3, the precompiled Emacs binaries are
      built with libpng 1.4.x and later, and are incompatible with
      earlier versions of libpng DLLs.  So if you have libpng 1.2.x,
      the PNG support will not work, and you will have to download
      newer versions.

      JPEG: requires the Independant JPEG Group's libjpeg 6b or later,
      which will be called jpeg62.dll, libjpeg.dll, jpeg-62.dll or jpeg.dll.

      TIFF: requires libTIFF 3.0 or later, which will be called libtiff3.dll
      or libtiff.dll.

      GIF: requires libungif or giflib 4.1 or later, which will be
      called giflib4.dll, libungif4.dll or libungif.dll.

   If you have image support DLLs under different names, customize the
   value of `dynamic-library-alist'.

   In addition, Emacs can be compiled to support SVG.  This precompiled
   distribution has not been compiled that way, since the SVG library
   or one or more of its extensive dependencies appear to be
   unreliable under Windows.  See nt/INSTALL in the src distribution if
   you wish to compile Emacs with SVG support.

* Uninstalling Emacs

  If you should need to uninstall Emacs, simply delete all the files
  and subdirectories from the directory where it was unpacked (Emacs
  does not install or update any files in system directories or
  anywhere else).  If you ran the addpm.exe program to create the
  registry entries and the Start menu icon, then you can remove the
  registry entries using regedit.  All of the settings are written
  under the Software\GNU\Emacs key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or if you
  didn't have administrator privileges when you installed, the same
  key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.  Just delete the whole Software\GNU\Emacs
  key.

  The Start menu entry can be removed by right-clicking on the Task bar
  and selecting Properties, then using the Remove option on the Start
  Menu Programs page.  (If you installed under an account with
  administrator privileges, then you need to click the Advanced button
  and look for the Gnu Emacs menu item under All Users.)

* Troubleshooting

  Unpacking the distributions

  If you encounter trouble trying to run Emacs, there are a number of
  possible causes.  Check the following for indications that the
  distribution was not corrupted by the tools used to unpack it:

    * Be sure to disable CR/LF translation or the executables will
      be unusable.  Older versions of WinZipNT would enable this
      translation by default.  If you are using WinZipNT, disable it.
      (I don't have WinZipNT myself, and I do not know the specific
      commands necessary to disable it.)

    * Check that filenames were not truncated to 8.3.  For example,
      there should be a file lisp\abbrevlist.elc; if this has been
      truncated to abbrevli.elc, your distribution has been corrupted
      while unpacking and Emacs will not start.

  If you believe you have unpacked the distributions correctly and are
  still encountering problems, see the section on Further Information
  below.

  Virus scanners

  Some virus scanners interfere with Emacs' use of subprocesses.  If you
  are unable to use subprocesses and you use Dr. Solomon's WinGuard or
  McAfee's Vshield, turn off "Scan all files" (WinGuard) or "boot sector
  scanning" (McAfee exclusion properties).

* Further information

  If you have access to the World Wide Web, I would recommend pointing
  your favorite web browser to the following document (if you haven't
  already):

        http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/

  This document serves as an FAQ and a source for further information
  about the Windows port and related software packages.

  In addition to the FAQ, there is a mailing list for discussing issues
  related to the Windows port of Emacs.  For information about the
  list, see this Web page:

        http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows

  To ask questions on the mailing list, send email to
  help-emacs-windows@gnu.org.  (You don't need to subscribe for that.)
  To subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it, fill the form you
  find at http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows as
  explained there.

  Another valuable source of information and help which should not be
  overlooked is the various Usenet news groups dedicated to Emacs.
  These are particularly good for help with general issues which aren't
  specific to the Windows port of Emacs.  The main news groups to use
  for seeking help are:

        gnu.emacs.help
        comp.emacs

  There are also fairly regular postings and announcements of new or
  updated Emacs packages on this group:

        gnu.emacs.sources

* Reporting bugs

  If you encounter a bug in this port of Emacs, we would like to hear
  about it.  First check the FAQ on the web page above to see if the bug
  is already known and if there are any workarounds.  Then check whether
  the bug has something to do with code in your .emacs file, e.g. by
  invoking Emacs with the "-Q" option.

  If you decide that it is a bug in Emacs, use the built in bug
  reporting facility to report it (from the menu; Help -> Send Bug Report).
  If you have not yet configured Emacs for mail, then when you press
  C-c C-c to send the report, it will ask you to paste the text of the
  report into your mail client.  If the bug is related to subprocesses,
  also specify which shell you are using (e.g., include the values of
  `shell-file-name' and `explicit-shell-file-name' in your message).

  Enjoy!

\f
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