Friday, March 26, 2010

Installing Python 2.6 in Windows 7




Make sure to use the 32-bit version. Currently, while 64-bit version of Python 2.6 (2.6.5) is available, NumPy, SciPy, and possibly other modules (e.g. PyGame) won't install with 64-bit Python since apparently there are only 32-bit versions of them at the moment. Although 64-bit Python 2.6.5 can be successfully installed under Windows 7 (mine's 64-bit), installing 32-bit modules (using the .exe installer) will give "Python 2.6 is not found in the registry".

There is a 64-bit version of NumPy, but it seems to be experimental, and after Google-ing it, there seem to be many reports of 64-bit NumPy not working.

Suggestion:
- Install 32-bit Python (note: in PyGame's website, they say Python 2.5 is currently "the best" for Windows - reasons still unknown).
- Then install all the necessary modules. Currently installed:
- Python 2.6.5 [ Link ] (python.org)
- NumPy 1.4.0 [ Link ] (Sourceforge)
- SciPy 0.7.1 [ Link ] (Sourceforge)
- matplotlib 0.99.1 [ Download ] (matplotlib)
- pyGame 1.9.1 [ Link ] (pygame.org)
- pySerial 2.5 [ Link ]

1 comment:

Adan said...

Thanks for posting this; it was a big help! Also, I think you meant to say that "...installing 32-bit modules will NOT give the error 'Python 2.6 is not found in the registry.'"