.. _install_popy:

Installation
##################

|popy| is currently available as a 64-bit binary for |windoze| 
version 10 or 11, requiring around 1.5Gb of disk space and a CPU
at least as powerful as a Intel Core i3.

First, self-register an account with the |popy| 
product site at https://product.popypkpd.com/register

When logged in with your email address and a password, 
download the latest binary from https://product.popypkpd.com/releases/

We currently provide a **64-bit version** of |popy| for Windows 10/11
and a Python wheel compiled for Linux (available on request).

.. note::

    If you have a previous version of |popy| installed, 
    we recommend that you :ref:`uninstall_popy<uninstall_popy>` before 
    installing again.

Double-click on the |popy| installer, popy-|version|-win64-installer.exe
and the installer will begin uncompressing files (which will occupy
around 1.5Gb of disk space).

The installer makes no changes to the Windows registry 
and does |not| require admin rights.

By default, the installer places the software in a subdirectory called |popy|. 
You can, however, change this default and install |popy| to a folder of 
your choice. 
For ease of access, we recommend |popy| is installed in the root directory 
of the main drive (|eg| ``c:\PoPy``).

(A local user typically has write access to the ``c:\\`` drive but not to 
``c:\\Program Files`` unless the user is an administrator.)

The installer also creates a desktop shortcut and Windows start menu shortcut 
under the name '|popy|', for the current user only.

.. note::

    It is possible to install |popy| on a usb stick. 
    However due to the way the |python| language operates, |ie| many .py files,
    this will have a significant performance impact. 
    It is much better to install |popy| on the main hard drive of a computer.


.. _uninstall_popy:

Uninstalling |popy|
====================

If you wish to remove |popy| for any reason (|eg| installing a new version),
click on the shortcut at:

.. code-block::

    Start Menu > PoPy > popy_uninstall

or run the .exe at ``<PoPy installation folder>\popy_uninstall.exe``.

The uninstaller will remove the |popy| desktop shortcut and 
Windows start menu items, but does not change the Windows Registry.
