Downloading and Installing MiKTeX 2.9
What's new
Please read the release notes,
before you install MiKTeX 2.9.
Special considerations
The following Windows platforms are supported:
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (all editions except Starter Edition)
- Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (all editions except Starter Edition)
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 R2
- Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2
Please note that MiKTeX 2.9 does not work on legacy Windows systems (Windows
9x/Me/NT/2000).
It is possible to install MiKTeX 2.9 side-by-side to an existing MiKTeX 2.8
installation.
You have the option to create a shared MiKTeX 2.9 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 2.9 series, if it exists. To do so,
start the "Add or Remove Programs" tool, select the MiKTeX 2.9 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 2.9"
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.
*MiKTeX 2.9 64-bit requires a 64-bit Windows system.
When you have installed MiKTeX 2.9, 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 2.9 64-bit requires a 64-bit Windows system.
Upgrading a previous MiKTeX installation
There is no explicit upgrade mechanism which transforms a MiKTeX 2.8 installation
into a MiKTeX 2.9 installation. But you can use the command-line version of
the package manager to import all missing packages into your MiKTeX 2.9 installation
directory. So the upgrade involves these steps:
- install MiKTeX 2.9
- import MiKTeX 2.8 packages (see below)
- uninstall MiKTeX 2.8
You can import MiKTeX 2.8 packages with the help of
mpm (command-line variant of the package manager):
mpm --admin --verbose --repository="C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.8" --import-all
See the MPM reference page,
for more information.