MikTeX 2.9 under Windows XP, Vista and Windows7 (32 and 64 bit)
Within MATHS there is a method of writing TeX documents and viewing the output without the need to use UNIX. It is a combination of MikTeX, TeXnicCenter, GSView, Ghostscript and Yap all bundled up into one download with a simple install/un-installer. For more information on each of the seperate packages, please see;
MikTeX WWW
TeXnicCenter WWW
GSView and Ghostscript WWW
Yap WWW
Installation
The installer gives you two network options. The first option will include Miktex root paths to include fonts and packages shared off the MATHS Windows Samba share (currently \\winsam\tetex and \\winsam\tetex\texmf). Computers connected to the fixed MATHS network will be able to see this automatically so this option would be selected. If you are on the laptop network you'd need to authenticate to the \\winsam server (using your MATHS Windows username and password) first before trying to Tex a document if you've install MikTeX on your laptop using the first option.
The second option is the opposite of the first. It won't install any root paths referring to networked locations. All Tex'ing would be done locally which is fine as long as you don't require any MATHS specific packages. Use this option if you're unsure which to choose.
Configuring
Once you've install this program, you may need to change the paths where you have Adobe Reader installed (althought you're advised to use another pdf viewer like foxit as opposed to Adobe Reader!). The first time you start TeXnicCenter, it will automatically start the 'Program Locations' application where you can either accept the default options and hope everything works or you can click the 'auto find' buttons for the program to find the programs/directories required and offer you the option to use what it finds. You can also tick a tick box to tell TeXnicCenter not to load this application at next start. Save the selected paths. If you do what to change settings in the future, the program can be re-loaded by looking in Start Menu -> Programs -> Tex-MATHS. Changes made in this program get read in the next time you start TeXnicCenter. Locations for GSView shouldn't need changing unless you wish to use a different version than that provided for in the installer.
If you start TeXnicCenter and you get shown the Tooltip window followed by the Configuration Wizard, this is because the program can't find the configuration file defining where programs like Adobe Reader are. Cancel these windows and TeXnicCenter and from the Start Menu -> Programs -> Tex-MATHS menu, select 'Delete old Program Location File'. OK the message box telling you the 'program locations backup' file has been deleted, then restart TeXnicCenter.
MATHS will only help with problems with the program 'texstart.exe' and the 'program locations' program as these were created by MATHS. Problems with Miktex, gsview etc are maintained by their won creators, please as them for help or google
The download for MATHS version of MikTeX/TeXnicCenter can be downloaded HERE (size = 134MB)