Installing the 6.081 software on Windows

Important: First, check to see whether the Python language is already installed on your machine. (This will probably be the case, for example, if you have a Thinkpad running windows.) If Python is already installed, then do not follow these instructions. Instead, see the course staff, so we can help you install things without messing up your current system. If Python isn't installed on your machine, then follow the instructions on this page.

A. Download the software

• Python 2.4.4
• Numeric Python 24.2
• SoaR

B. Install the Python language

Double click on the Python installer (python-2.4.4.msi) to begin the Python installation process.
1. In reply to the options: install the software for all users, use the default directory (C:\Python24\) and in general just click "next" to accept the defaults.

2. Wait for the installation to finish and click "finish". Note that installing Python will also automatically install IDLE.

C. Add Python to your path

1. Open "System" in your computer control panel and click the "Advanced" tab. On that screen click "Environment variables".

2. Scroll down the list of System variables on the lower half of the window until you find a variable called "Path". Highlight it and press "Edit".

3. Scroll to the end of the "Variable value" entry and the characters ;C:\python24. (Don't foget the initial semicolon.) Press OK and close out of the Environment variable and System Properties windows (by pressing OK for each one).

D. Check that Python works

1. Find Python 2.4 in your menu of programs and run "Python (command line)". This should produce a window that says "Python 2.4.4 ..." and ends with a prompt (>>>)

2. At the prompt, type
   >>> 2**10
   and press Enter. The result should be 2¹⁰, or 1024. Try computing 2¹⁰⁰⁰ and verify that this works as well.

3. If this works, you've (probably) successfully installed Python. Close the Python window. Ask for help if something has gone wrong.

E. Install additional python packages

Double-click on the Numeric installer on your desktop (Numeric-24.2.win32-py2.4.exe). Accept the defaults (i.e., just click "next"), wait for the installation to complete, and click "finish"

F. Install the SoaR software

1. Double-click on the SoaR file on your desktop (SoaR-current.zip) and extract the file to a directory of your choice (logical options: your desktop, c:\). After extraction, there will be a subdirectory called SoaR.
2. Open up the SoaR subdirectory in Windows Explorer. Double-click on the file wininstallsoar.bat. This will pop open a command window and start the installation process. Note that if you have not yet installed Numeric as described above, you may get an error message, but the installation will still succeed.
3. This will create a file called RunSoar.bat. This file will be used to start SoaR in the future.

G. Try it!

To start SoaR, simply double-click on RunSoar.bat. For simplicity, you may want to create a shortcut to this file on your desktop or quick launch bar (right-click on RunSoar.bat, "Create Shortcut", and drag the resulting shortcut to wherever you want).

If you just want to write Python scripts, without needing to use SoaR, you can open up IDLE directly. Go to Start | All Programs | Python 2.4 | IDLE (Python GUI). This will bring up the IDLE editor that you use during lab.