getting started

TODO: Formatting is off.

• The default rxvt font size is too small. How do I enlarge it?
  • Open C:\MSYS\1.0\msys.bat with a text editor and search for a line containing "80x25". Then replace it with:
    

     rem The following should be all one line.
     start rxvt -backspacekey ^H -sl 2500 -fg grey90 -bg black -sr -fn "Courier-bold-20" 
       -tn msys -geometry 80x25 -e /bin/sh --login -i

Automated Installer

If you are new to MinGW, see the MinGW Getting Started instructions to use the automated GUI or manual CLI (Command Line Interface) installers.

We highly reccommend that you use the automated installers provided by MinGW

Should you choose to proceed with these instructions, you should read the following first:

• The MinGW GCC specific release notes for detailed notes, including known issues.
• The release notes for each individual package. Links to each of these can be found next to the name of each package file listed on the MinGW Download Page.

MinGW Installation Notes

MinGW may have problems with paths containing spaces, and if not, usually other programs used with MinGW will experience problems with such paths. Thus, we strongly recommend that you do not install MinGW in any location with spaces in the path name reference. You should avoid installing into any directory or subdirectory having names like "Program Files" or "My Documents", etc.

No version numbering convention exists for MinGW as a whole. Each package has its own version number, and the installer version number does not correlate, in any way, with the version number of any individual package which it installs.

The preferred installation target directory is C:\MinGW

The preferred installation method is using the automated installer tool. While a manual installation is possible, we do not reccommend it. Instructions are provided below if you really want to risk it.

After installation you will need to perform some additional tasks yourself to ensure your MinGW applications will run. Most importantly, you will need to make changes to your PATH environment variable. Be careful: there are two PATH variables which can be changed, and changing the wrong one can have significant consequences. Instructions for changing the correct PATH variable are provided below.

You will also need to ensure you specify the correct installation target directory to the MinGW environment. While it is possible to install MinGW to a location other than C:\MinGW (ie on a different drive), you must ensure that the MinGW environment knows where it is located. Instructions for doing this are also provided below.