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Emacs for Windows This README file describes how to set up and run a precompiled version of GNU Emacs for Windows NT/2000/XP and Windows 95/98/Me. This distribution can be found on the ftp.gnu.org server and its mirrors: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/windows/emacs/ This server contains other distributions, including the full Emacs source distribution and the lisp source distribution, 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 or ftp: http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/windows/emacs/docs/ntemacs.html * Preliminaries Along with this file should be six subdirectories (bin, etc, info, lisp, lock, site-lisp). Depending on which distribution you have installed, the lisp subdirectory might contain both the lisp source (*.el) and compiled lisp files (*.elc), or just the compiled lisp files. If you don't have the lisp source files, you can obtain them by downloading the lisp source distribution or the full source distribution from the ftp site mentioned above. * 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 add some entries to the registry that tell Emacs where to find its support files, and put an icon for Emacs in the Start Menu under "Start -> Programs -> Gnu Emacs -> 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 the 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 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 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. * 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, the same key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Just delete the 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. If you didn't use the versions of tar and gunzip (or djtarnt) on the above ftp site, it is possible that the distribution became corrupted while it was being unpacked. Check the following for indications that the distribution was not corrupted: * Be sure to disable the 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. * Users have said that some utilities (WinZip again?) don't create the lock subdirectory. You can create the lock directory by hand (it is normally empty). * Users have also reported that the gnu-win32 tar corrupts the executables. Use the version of tar or djtarnt on the ftp.gnu.org site instead. 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 following the document (if you haven't already): http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html 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://mail.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://mail.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 particuarly 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 --no-site-file" options. If you decide that it is a bug in Emacs that might be specific to the Windows port, send a message to the "help-emacs-windows@gnu.org" mailing list describing the bug, the version of Emacs that you are using, and the operating system that you are running on (Windows NT, 2000, 95, 98, etc. including service pack level if known). If the bug is related to subprocesses, also specify which shell you are using (e.g., include the values of `shell-file-name' and `shell-explicit-file-name' in your message). If you think the bug is not specific to the Windows port of Emacs, then it is better to mail the bug report to "bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org" so that it will be seen by the right people. If Emacs has been set up to send mail, you can use the command M-x report-emacs-bug to create and send the bug report, but in some cases there is a function to report bugs in a specific package; e.g. M-x gnus-bug for Gnus, M-x c-submit-bug-report for C/C++/Java mode, etc. Enjoy!