could not start the command pdflatex - synctex=1 -interaction=nonstopmode %.tex error

Question

I'm very new to LaTeX and its distributions so this might be a very newbie question.

I was following this tutorial and I'm not being able to compile the document. The code so far is very simple i don't think there are any typos and also I did not find a similar question in the forum.

can someone point me in the right direction ?

I'm using windows XP and I've installed TexMaker 4.4.1 found here

The code I have so far is simply:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}

\begin{document}

This is my first LaTeX document.

\end{document}

the error I'm getting is:

Could not start the command. pdflatex -synctex=1 -interaction=nonstopmode %.tex

Cheers !

Answer 1

If you meet the error "Error : could not start the command" while executing TexMakerX commands in Win7 X64, it is probably due to environment path of LaTex compiler. The following steps may help you solve this error:

1. Make sure that you did install a LaTex compiler like MiKTeX. You know, TexMakerX is just a editor of latex input, not a compiler.
2. Locate the bin directory in the installation directory of the LaTex compiler.
3. Add the directory of bin like "d:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin" to the environment paths of windows.
4. Right click computer in start menu, choose properties.
5. Find the "Advanced system settings" in upper left corner.
6. Click the button "Environment Variables".
7. Find the row of variable path in the group of "System Variables" and add bin path like";d:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin"to the tail.
8. Remember to add a semicolon to separate different path.

Then, try it again...

Answer 2

I found this question on another forum and it says that you should install MiKTex for windows too. Worked like a charm !