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I usually compile .tex files online. Though I will be without Internet connection for the following days and yet absolutely must work with some .tex stuff.

Now I know this is the stereotypical question that warrants a "UTFSE" response, but believe me when I say I have been fiercely looking for "tutorials" on how to do that on the Internet but to be completely honest, so far they couldn't be less useful for me --- all go over my head. I am not a programmer and just can't follow the lingo. MikTeX site is down. I downloaded proTeXt but that seems to be for Linux; "pdflatex mydocument.tex" did not work, there was no file such as pdflatex on any of the folders in proTeXt. As per someone else's suggestion, I am downloading TeX Live, but it is looking like it ain't gonna be straightforward.

Can anyone break it down to me plain and simple?

Troy
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wet
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  • There are many TeX editors out there, like TeXstudio, TeXworks etc. Have a look at some of them. These provide an environment similar to those provided online like on Overleaf or ShareLaTeX, so it should not be a problem for you. It's easier than using the command prompt. – Troy Mar 08 '17 at 02:57
  • Thanks I will take a look at them. I don't use Overleaf or ShareLaTeX, actually, I write my .tex in notepad++ and then compile them, and kinda like it that way. Is there anything I can just feed my .tex into and get my .pdf out? – wet Mar 08 '17 at 03:00
  • Have a look at this and see if it helps? It's using Miktex, but I think it will be similar for TeXlive. – Troy Mar 08 '17 at 03:04
  • Well... that is a whole lot. Is there no simple solution really? It is starting to look like so. In another question here in SX someone seemed to be saying that there was a lot one would have to learn to work with LaTeX on their own. I guess I'll just forget about it and use the TeX editors you suggested. – wet Mar 08 '17 at 03:12
  • Do any of those editors compile too? Not finding the answer on Wiki [on a quick skim] – wet Mar 08 '17 at 03:15
  • Yes, these editors have inbuilt LaTeX compilers, including pdflatex. With a TeX distribution (e.g. TeXLive) and an editor like TeXStudio, you will be able to compile tex files to pdf with a click of a button (F5). – Troy Mar 08 '17 at 03:18
  • Alright I just got TeXworks and Basic MiKTeX. I typed up a random test document (in TeXworks) and clicked compile. It is doing it and asking me to install some packages, which I am accepting. Should I expect to see a .pdf any moment now? Thank you for your patience, by the way. – wet Mar 08 '17 at 03:26
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    Yup. If you don't (perhaps due to some packages not downloading etc.), feel free to create another post that is more specific to the problem. Then we can help you out from there. (But do use the search function on TeX.SE first, to avoid any duplicates) :-) – Troy Mar 08 '17 at 03:31
  • I won't be needing to ask any further questions... it worked! Thank you. (: – wet Mar 08 '17 at 03:34
  • "TeX for dummies" = "Swimming for rocks." –  Mar 08 '17 at 04:23

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