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Downloading and Installing MiKTeX 2.8

MiKTeX 2.8 is considered out-of-date. It is recommended that you install MiKTeX 2.9 instead.

What's new

Please read the release notes, before you install MiKTeX 2.8.

Special considerations

The following Windows platforms are supported:

  • Windows 7 (recommended)
  • Windows Server 2008
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows XP
  • Windows 2000

Please note that MiKTeX 2.8 does not work on legacy Windows systems (Windows 9x/Me/NT).

It is possible to install MiKTeX 2.8 side-by-side to an existing MiKTeX 2.7 installation.

You have the option to create a shared MiKTeX 2.8 installation. Use this option if you are the administrator of your computer and if you want to install MiKTeX for all users. This option is not available if you are logged into a limited user account.

Preparations

You must uninstall a previous version of the 2.8 series, if it exists. To do so, start the "Add or Remove Programs" tool, select the MiKTeX 2.8 entry and click the Remove button. It is recommended that you choose the "Tidy up thoroughly" option on the first wizard page.

Installing a basic MiKTeX system

"Basic MiKTeX 2.8" Installer

To install a basic MiKTeX system, download and run the "Basic MiKTeX" installer. MiKTeX has the ability to install missing packages automatically, i.e., this installer is suitable for computers connected to the Internet.

"Basic MiKTeX 2.8" Installer
Size: 110.63 MB
from:

When you have installed MiKTeX 2.8, it is recommended that you run the update wizard in order to get the latest updates.

Installing the complete MiKTeX system

You use the MiKTeX Net Installer to download all MiKTeX packages and install a complete MiKTeX system. See the section Installing MiKTeX in the MiKTeX manual, for more information.

MiKTeX 2.8 Net Installer
Size: 2.94 MB

Upgrading a previous MiKTeX installation

There is no explicit upgrade mechanism which transforms a MiKTeX 2.7 installation into a MiKTeX 2.8 installation. But you can use the command-line version of the package manager to import all missing packages into your MiKTeX 2.8 installation directory. So the upgrade involves these steps:

  1. install MiKTeX 2.8
  2. import MiKTeX 2.7 packages (see below)
  3. uninstall MiKTeX 2.7

You can import MiKTeX 2.7 packages with the help of mpm (command-line variant of the package manager):

mpm --admin --verbose --repository="C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.7" --import-all

See the MPM reference page, for more information.