3 This README file describes how to set up and run a precompiled version
4 of GNU Emacs for Windows NT/2000/XP and Windows 95/98/Me. This
5 distribution can be found on the ftp.gnu.org server and its mirrors:
7 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/
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.
13 Answers to frequently asked questions, and further information about
14 this port of GNU Emacs and related software packages can be found via
17 http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html
21 Along with this file should be six subdirectories (bin, etc, info,
22 lisp, lock, site-lisp). Depending on which distribution you have
23 installed, the lisp subdirectory might contain both the lisp source
24 (*.el) and compiled lisp files (*.elc), or just the compiled lisp
25 files. If you don't have the lisp source files, you can obtain them
26 by downloading the lisp source distribution or the full source
27 distribution from the ftp site mentioned above.
31 To install Emacs, simply unpack all the files into a directory of your
32 choice, but note that you might encounter minor problems if there is a
33 space anywhere in the directory name. To complete the installation
34 process, you can optionally run the program addpm.exe in the bin
35 subdirectory. This will add some entries to the registry that tell
36 Emacs where to find its support files, and put an icon for Emacs in
37 the Start Menu under "Start -> Programs -> Gnu Emacs -> Emacs".
39 Some users have reported that the Start Menu item is not created for
40 them. If this happens, just create your own shortcut to runemacs.exe,
41 eg. by dragging it on to the desktop or the Start button.
43 Note that running addpm is now an optional step; Emacs is able to
44 locate all of its files without needing the information to be set in
45 the environment or the registry, although such settings will still be
46 obeyed if present. This is convenient for running Emacs on a machine
47 which disallows registry changes, or on which software should not be
48 installed. For instance, you can now run Emacs directly from a CD
49 without copying or installing anything on the machine itself.
53 To run Emacs, simply select Emacs from the Start Menu, or invoke
54 runemacs.exe directly from Explorer or a command prompt. This will
55 start Emacs in its default GUI mode, ready to use. If you have never
56 used Emacs before, you should follow the tutorial at this point
57 (select Emacs Tutorial from the Help menu), since Emacs is quite
58 different from ordinary Windows applications in many respects.
60 If you want to use Emacs in tty or character mode within a command
61 window, you can start it by typing "emacs -nw" at the command prompt.
62 (Obviously, you need to ensure that the Emacs bin subdirectory is in
63 your PATH first, or specify the path to emacs.exe.) The -nw
64 (non-windowed) mode of operation is most useful if you have a telnet
65 server on your machine, allowing you to run Emacs remotely.
69 Emacs has built in support for XBM and PPM/PGM/PBM images, and the
70 libXpm library is bundled, providing XPM support (required for color
71 toolbar icons and splash screen).
73 Emacs can also support some other image formats with appropriate
74 libraries. These libraries are all available as part of GTK, or from
75 gnuwin32.sourceforge.net. Emacs will find them if the directory they
76 are installed in is on the PATH.
78 PNG: requires the PNG reference library 1.2 or later, which will
79 be named libpng13d.dll, libpng13.dll, libpng12d.dll, libpng12.dll
80 or libpng.dll. LibPNG requires zlib, which should come from the same
81 source as you got libpng.
83 JPEG: requires the Independant JPEG Group's libjpeg 6b or later,
84 which will be called jpeg62.dll, libjpeg.dll, jpeg-62.dll or jpeg.dll.
86 TIFF: requires libTIFF 3.0 or later, which will be called libtiff3.dll
89 GIF: requires libungif or giflib 4.1 or later, which will be
90 called giflib4.dll, libungif4.dll or libungif.dll.
95 If you should need to uninstall Emacs, simply delete all the files and
96 subdirectories from the directory where it was unpacked (Emacs does
97 not install or update any files in system directories or anywhere
98 else). If you ran the addpm.exe program to create the registry
99 entries and the Start menu icon, then you can remove the registry
100 entries using regedit. All of the settings are written under the
101 Software\GNU\Emacs key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or if you didn't have
102 administrator privileges, the same key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Just
103 delete the Software\GNU\Emacs key.
105 The Start menu entry can be removed by right-clicking on the Task bar
106 and selecting Properties, then using the Remove option on the Start
107 Menu Programs page. (If you installed under an account with
108 administrator privileges, then you need to click the Advanced button
109 and look for the Gnu Emacs menu item under All Users.)
113 Unpacking the distributions
115 If you encounter trouble trying to run Emacs, there are a number of
116 possible causes. If you didn't use the versions of tar and gunzip (or
117 djtarnt) on the above ftp site, it is possible that the distribution
118 became corrupted while it was being unpacked. Check the following for
119 indications that the distribution was not corrupted:
121 * Be sure to disable the CR/LF translation or the executables will
122 be unusable. Older versions of WinZipNT would enable this
123 translation by default. If you are using WinZipNT, disable it.
124 (I don't have WinZipNT myself, and I do not know the specific
125 commands necessary to disable it.)
127 * Check that filenames were not truncated to 8.3. For example,
128 there should be a file lisp\abbrevlist.elc; if this has been
129 truncated to abbrevli.elc, your distribution has been corrupted
130 while unpacking and Emacs will not start.
132 * Users have said that some utilities (WinZip again?) don't create
133 the lock subdirectory. You can create the lock directory by hand
134 (it is normally empty).
136 * Users have also reported that the gnu-win32 tar corrupts the
137 executables. Use the version of tar or djtarnt on the ftp.gnu.org
140 If you believe you have unpacked the distributions correctly and are
141 still encountering problems, see the section on Further Information
146 Some virus scanners interfere with Emacs' use of subprocesses. If you
147 are unable to use subprocesses and you use Dr. Solomon's WinGuard or
148 McAfee's Vshield, turn off "Scan all files" (WinGuard) or "boot sector
149 scanning" (McAfee exclusion properties).
151 * Further information
153 If you have access to the World Wide Web, I would recommend pointing
154 your favorite web browser to following the document (if you haven't
157 http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html
159 This document serves as an FAQ and a source for further information
160 about the Windows port and related software packages.
162 In addition to the FAQ, there is a mailing list for discussing issues
163 related to the Windows port of Emacs. For information about the
164 list, see this Web page:
166 http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows
168 To ask questions on the mailing list, send email to
169 help-emacs-windows@gnu.org. (You don't need to subscribe for that.)
170 To subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it, fill the form you
171 find at http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows as
174 Another valuable source of information and help which should not be
175 overlooked is the various Usenet news groups dedicated to Emacs.
176 These are particuarly good for help with general issues which aren't
177 specific to the Windows port of Emacs. The main news groups to use
178 for seeking help are:
183 There are also fairly regular postings and announcements of new or
184 updated Emacs packages on this group:
190 If you encounter a bug in this port of Emacs, we would like to hear
191 about it. First check the FAQ on the web page above to see if the bug
192 is already known and if there are any workarounds. Then check whether
193 the bug has something to do with code in your .emacs file, e.g. by
194 invoking Emacs with the "-q --no-site-file" options.
196 If you decide that it is a bug in Emacs that might be specific to the
197 Windows port, send a message to the "help-emacs-windows@gnu.org"
198 mailing list describing the bug, the version of Emacs that you are
199 using, and the operating system that you are running on (Windows NT,
200 2000, 95, 98, etc. including service pack level if known). If the bug
201 is related to subprocesses, also specify which shell you are using
202 (e.g., include the values of `shell-file-name' and
203 `shell-explicit-file-name' in your message).
205 If you think the bug is not specific to the Windows port of Emacs,
206 then it is better to mail the bug report to "bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org" so
207 that it will be seen by the right people. If Emacs has been set up to
208 send mail, you can use the command M-x report-emacs-bug to create and
209 send the bug report, but in some cases there is a function to report
210 bugs in a specific package; e.g. M-x gnus-bug for Gnus, M-x
211 c-submit-bug-report for C/C++/Java mode, etc.