Installation

Now maintained at https://github.com/winpython/winpython/wiki/Installation

Legacy version:

Requirements

As some packages were built using Microsoft Visual Studio, you may have to install one of the following redistribution packages on Windows XP and for WinPython 2.7 only:

• WinPython 2.7 32bit: Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86)
• WinPython 2.7 64bit: Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x64)

Installation

WinPython being a portable distribution, the main installer that can be downloaded here only copies files to a destination directory. It may however be installed more invasively into the operating system when "registering" the distribution (see section "Registration" below).

Settings

All installed Python packages store their settings in [WINPYTHON_DIR]\settings instead of user profile directory (e.g. C:\Users\username in Windows Vista/7/8), hence allowing to move your settings with your favorite distribution, in a portable way. This is the default behavior but it can be changed by simply removing the [WINPYTHON_DIR]\settings folder, forcing WinPython to use the user profile directory instead.

Registration

The WinPython Control Panel allows to "register" your WinPython distribution to Windows (see screenshot below).

Registering your WinPython installation will:

• associate file extensions .py, .pyc and .pyo to Python interpreter
• register Python icons in Windows explorer
• add context menu entries Edit with IDLE and Edit with Spyder for .py files
• register WinPython as a standard Python distribution (standard Python Windows installers will see WinPython in Windows registry)