How to Install: Eclipse

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology –
Computer Science & Software Engineering

Overview

Follow these instructions to install Eclipse version 3.4.
Note: in 2006 and 2007, new RHIT laptops came with an older version—Eclipse 3.1 or 3.2 —installed in C:\Program Files, so you should uninstall the existing version (following the instructions below) before you install the current one. 2008 laptops came with Eclipse 3.4, so you should not have to install it.

Eclipse is a free, open-source IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for Java
Anyone can download from the Eclipse site, but we suggest that you use the local copy described below.

Your computer must have a working Java Runtime Environment (JRE) v5 or v6 to run Eclipse. If you have a pre-2005 laptop or have done your own Windows install, follow the instructions for installing Java 6.

Installing Eclipse

Follow all of the following steps to install and configure Eclipse on Windows:

Download and Install Eclipse
1. Login to your regular user account (which should have at least power user privileges, the default at Rose).
2. If you have a prior version of Eclipse, uninstall your existing version(s). With Eclipse this just involves deleting the application's folder from c:\Program Files .
3. Regardless of whether or not you had an existing, prior version of Eclipse, click this link to the local zip archive for Eclipse.
4. Drag the eclipse folder from inside the zip archive (however your zip extractor does this) to c:\Program Files.
Add an Eclipse Shortcut
1. Open the folder C:\Program Files\eclipse.
2. Drag the file eclipse.exe onto the start menu button and hold it there without releasing the mouse button; this is called hovering.
3. The start menu should pop open. When it does, continue dragging the eclipse.exe file onto the All Programs submenu and hover there.
4. The All Programs menu should pop open. When it does, drag the eclipse.exe file to a place of your choosing and drop the file by releasing the mouse button.
Configure Eclipse.