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NEWS: LyX is now as easy to
install as clicking on an icon!
SUPER NEWS! It looks like the folks that port LyX to
Windows have been working hard. Now installing LyX on windows is as easy
as clicking on an icon! The installer for the newest versions of LyX for
Windows does everything for you --- it will even install LaTeX and Ghostscript
if you need it! Go and get the installer at
http://wiki.lyx.org/Windows/Windows
And if you use LaTeX or LyX, you probably wish you had a
better way to organize your references. I've found another great, free
program that does this extremely well. You can get it at
http://jabref.sourceforge.net/
So get these tools, and start publishing!
LyX is a program which lets you edit LaTeX files in a more
graphical environment, where you can immediately see your math, etc. You
can insert things like Greek characters and integrals either by
menu/point-and-click methods or by simply typing the latex codes and watching as
LyX notices your code and magically converts it into the symbol you wanted.
LyX files can be exported as pure LaTeX, but they require just a tiny bit of
cleaning up and post-editing if you want to submit them to a journal, etc.
I used it to write my doctoral thesis, and it worked out very well.
LyX was written for unix, but a very good windows port is
available. There are also ports for Mac OS X and OS/2, but I haven't used
them and can't vouch for them.
It used to be a little bit of work
to install LyX for Windows, so I set up this page to help you get everything you
need, including files and instructions. I am leaving it up for now, incase
someone for some reason needs an older version of LyX for Windows.
Otherwise, go get the new, slick installer at
http://wiki.lyx.org/Windows/Windows
and ignore the rest of this page
Instructions for Installing LyX
1.3.3 for Windows
from Dallin Durfee’s install folder
 | Install MikTex
 | Before you install Lyx you should have MikTex, a
windows version of TeX installed. This should have been installed by default
if
you installed WinEdit from the physics department network install package. If you use TeX or
LaTeX on your windows machine, you probably have MikTex installed. If
you don't have MikTex, go to
http://www.miktex.org/. |
|
| Download and unzip the files.
| Click here to download the zip file.
These files are copyrighted under the GNU GPL, which means that there should
not be any legal issues with copying, packaging, or even modifying and
redistributing them. Save the file somewhere convenient. After
it has been saved, unzip the file. |
|
| Install Lyx
| Open the lyx-1.3.3 folder that you just unzipped and
double click on lyx-1.3.3-win32.exe. |
| When the window comes up enter the directory where you
want to install lyx in the box at the top of the window. This should
probably be "c:\" --- lyx doesn't like directory names with spaces, so don't
put it in "My Documents" or "Program Files," etc. It will make a new folder
named “lyx” at the location named (for example, if you selected “c:\” it
would make a folder named “c:\lyx”). All of the files installed will be
placed in this folder. If you decide that you don’t want lyx anymore, just
delete this folder and everything will be gone. |
| Click on install. |
|
| Install the True-Type fonts
| To get math symbols to display correctly, you need to
install the true-type fonts in the latex-xft-fonts-0.1 directory. In some
versions of windows this is done by opening the control panel, clicking on
fonts, and then clicking on file/install new fonts. In windows XP,
depending on how your computer is configured, you may need to go to the control panel/Appearance and Themes. Then click on fonts in the "see
also" panel. |
|
| Install the English spelling dictionary
| In order to use spell checking, you must copy the two
files in the ShareAspell directory into the “blah\lyx\share\aspell”
directory, where "blah" is the location where you installed LyX (for
example, “c:\lyx\share\aspell”). You must also copy the entire “aspell”
directory to “blah\lyx\lib”. |
|
| Start up LyX and set a few options
| Go to the directory you installed lyx to, open up the
"lyx\bin" folder, and double click on lyx.exe. The program should come up
and work. Check it out by typing something, and then click on the menu item
"view/DVI" to see if latex processes your file correctly. If you want to
enter formulas, type control-m to enter math mode. Then just type latex
math code in. If you have any trouble, see the troubleshooting section
below. |
| To make the spell checker work, click on the menu item
Edit/Preferences/Language settings/Spellchecker/spell checker program and
set it to aspell. Then close LyX and restart it. The spell checker should
now work. |
| You might want to make a shortcut to LyX to make it
easier to start up. This can be done by dragging lyx.exe onto the Windows
“Start” button at the lower left corner of your screen. |
|
Troubleshooting
I am only aware of a few problems you might have. Their
solutions are listed below. If you have a different problem, let me know. When
we find the solution, I’ll list it below so that others can take advantage of
it. If you find your own solution, please let me know anyway so that I can add
your solution to this list. More troubleshooting information can be found
at
http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/WindowsSetup.
| When I try to view or export a file, LyX generates an
error box which says that it can’t find a certain package (for example, my
installation complained about geometry.sty) .
| This means that a LaTeX package that is used by your
document has not been installed in MikTeX. This is solved by opening
“MikTex Options” and installing the needed package. |
|
| Instead of mathematical symbols LyX displays the LaTeX
code for the symbol highlighted in red.
| Make sure that you remembered to install the True-Type
fonts (see the third step of the installation process). |
|
| The mathematical symbols look kind of thin and ugly.
| You probably have the old screen fonts. I have updated the screen
fonts in the LyX download. If you installed LyX using an older version
of my zip archive, just download the new fonts
here and install them. By the
way, these fonts are just for displaying text on your computer screen in LyX.
The standard LaTeX fonts will be used when you print or create .ps or .pdf
files. |
| You can also adjust the way fonts look by going to Edit/Preferences/Look
and feel/Screen fonts and increasing the Zoom %. You can also improve
the look by setting Windows to smooth fonts. In windows 2000 this is
done by opening up the control panel, clicking on Display, going to the
effects tab, and checking the “smooth edges of screen fonts” option. Of
course this will affect not only LyX but anything you do on the computer. |
|
| I see all of the math symbols except \hbar, in which
case just an h is displayed.
| You need the new screen fonts. See the answer to the question
above this one. |
|
| "Equals" signs only have one line or are not visible.
| See the answer to the question above. |
|
| Images don't show up in LyX, but look fine in DVI and Postscript.
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