Installing Python 3 on Windows
This tutorial teaches you how to install Python 3.4.3 on Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8.1. If you have a different version of Windows, don’t worry – these instructions apply to all recent versions of Windows.
- Open your browser and go to python.org. Go to the Downloads drop-down menu at the top of the page, then click on Windows.
- Click on Python 3.4.3 from the list of options given. You will get a notification on your computer asking if you want to run or save python-3.4.3.msi from python.org.
- Click run. This will cause a security scan to run, and then the Python 3.4.3 setup menu will appear. Click the “Install for all users” option, then click the ‘Next’ button to install the python 3.4.3 files to a directory.
- Now you’ll see the ‘Customize Python 3.4.3’ screen. The last item, where it says ‘add python.exe to path’, needs to be changed. Click on the little red x to reveal the drop-down menu, then choose ‘will be installed on local hard drive’. This lets you type python into a command prompt without needing the entire path. This is important because the path tells your OS where to look for executables. So, if you type ‘python’ on the command line, the path tells your computer where to look for it.
- Click next, and wait for it to install.
- Click finish, then restart your computer as you normally would.
- Once you’re back into your computer, you can make sure Python was installed correctly. Go launch the command line by typing cmd.exe into the search box on your desktop’s Start Menu, then select ‘cmd’.
Now you can type ‘python’ in the terminal, taking you to the Python shell.
So you can type this:
print(“Hello World!”)
…and it works. You’re ready to go!