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I've been told that to edit a .tex file with LyX, I'll have to import the .tex file, do my editing etc.

Then if I want to turn it into a .pdf file, I have to export it as DVI then convert it somehow with something called pdflatex? I'm not too sure about this part can anyone help me out? This is my first time using LaTeX...

When I click on File > Export, I don't know why the OK command is disabled when I try to select DVI format... do I have to install additional plugins? Screenshot:

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I don't usually use LyX, but on my test installation I can simply do File > Export > PDF (pdflatex) to obtain a PDF file. Why doesn't that work for you? (To add screenshots, you can manually upload them to imgur.com and then add the link in the post.) – Caramdir Mar 29 '11 at 0:40
Do you have TeX installed? LyX will not be able to export as dvi, eps or pdf if you don't have TeX installed. – Jan Hlavacek Mar 29 '11 at 0:50
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To add more details: LyX does not do any typesetting by itself. It is basically just a front end for LaTeX, and it uses LaTeX (or PdfLaTeX) to create dvi, Postscript or pdf files. That means that in order to export any of these three formats, you have to have a TeX distribution, such as TeXLive or MikTeX installed on your computer. When you run LyX first time, it detects what software you have installed, and configures itself, which means that if it cannot find TeX on the machine, it will disable the dvi, ps and pdf export, as well as other features requiring LaTeX, such as instant preview. – Jan Hlavacek Mar 29 '11 at 1:34
Sorry about the late reply, done as above. – meiryo Mar 29 '11 at 12:07
Jan, I don't know if TeX is installed or not... is there a way to check? (Please bear with me!) – meiryo Mar 29 '11 at 12:09
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1 Answer

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The easiest way to install Lyx on Windows is to use the LyxWinInstaller, which installs Lyx together with the software it needs, including performing a basic install of Miktex.

If Lyx still doesn't find Miktex after installation, which I have heard can happen if it is installed separately, check that the Windows system variable miktexdir is set to the path of the Miktex program directory.

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