Installing MiKTeX

The LaTeX system consists of a basic core and countless extension packages that users have created over the system’s long history. MiKTeX is one of the most popular Windows distributions of LaTeX. The TeX Live system is also common, but I haven’t tried installing it. MiKTeX installation is very simple, but you need to remember to set the right options.

Brief Installation and Setup Instructions

• Download the installer here. Version: Net Installer, 32-bit, size less than 10MB. Installation happens in two stages: first the installer downloads all packages to a directory you specify, then it installs from that directory.
• Run the installer, choose “Download MiKTeX”, then “Complete MiKTeX”. This is the most complete LaTeX version, with all currently available packages. Takes about one and a half gigabytes. If you can’t download that much from the internet, you can choose the “Basic MiKTeX” option (about 150MB). Then the installer will ask you to choose a site to download packages from. Any will do. Next, choose the directory to download packages to. It’s better to create a directory on your hard drive that won’t need to be moved. Now just wait while the installer downloads all packages. If the download is interrupted due to poor connection, you can safely restart the installer any number of times: already downloaded packages won’t be downloaded again.
• Run the installer. Choose “Install MiKTeX” this time and then “Basic MiKTeX”. The installer will ask you to choose the folder to install from. You need to point it to the directory where you just downloaded MiKTeX. The installation steps are standard after that, just remember to check: “Install missing packages on the fly: Yes”. This is needed so that when MiKTeX needs a package for compilation, it installs it on the go without asking unnecessary questions.
• When MiKTeX is installed, it’s useful to do a couple more setup actions. In the main menu, select “MiKTeX/Settings(Admin)”, and in the “Packages” tab select “Package repository”: if you downloaded “Basic MiKTeX”, then “Packages shall be installed from the Internet”, and if “Complete MiKTeX”, then the folder where you downloaded it. Then below in the tree list, check the box next to Fonts/Outline fonts/cm-super. These are vector fonts. They read much better on screen than the standard ones.
• Launch TeXworks editor from the main menu. Don’t be alarmed that it only takes up half the screen: during compilation, another window with the compiled document will be displayed on the right. In Edit/Preferences/Editor/Editor Defaults, set a monospace font that’s easy on the eyes and not too small. My personal preference: Consolas, 13pt. Note that at the bottom there is an Encoding parameter. It’s set to UTF-8 by default. It’s recommended to create all new documents in this encoding. But if someone sends you a document and it doesn’t open properly, you’ll need to change the encoding.
• As a more advanced alternative to the standard TeXworks editor, I can recommend the free TeXnicCenter. It automatically configures itself during installation to work with installed MiKTeX, supports spell checking, Unicode work, and other useful things.

MiKTeX is Installed. Where to Start?

Essentially, LaTeX is a programming language. For those familiar with HTML, for example, learning LaTeX shouldn’t be problematic, but you need to be prepared that without preliminary reading of examples and manuals, you won’t be able to typeset even simple text. Initial familiarization will take from 15 minutes to two-three hours. When you need specific knowledge, you can turn to friends and colleagues: chances are, among them there will be at least one TeX expert.