I got it working, thanks to an offlist message from Don - copied with permission below... Gez ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Davison" To: "Gez" Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 2:56 PM Subject: Re: compiling org without make > Hi Gez, > > It is possible to use the latest version of Org mode very easily, > without compiling or installing to system folders. I just posted example > instructions in another thread; the link to that thread is > > http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.orgmode/30973 > > With this method, the info files in emacs will be out-of-date. Full > installation is covered in section 1.2 of the manual: > > http://orgmode.org/manual/Installation.html#Installation > > But here are the instructions I posted: > > 1. Download the latest version > .zip and .tar.gz version are kept at > http://orgmode.org/org-latest.zip > http://orgmode.org/org-latest.tar.gz > > 2. Extract the archived files > This will create a folder called "org-mode". Let's say that the > location of this folder is "~/path/to/org-mode" (for Windows see > footnote [1]) > > 3. Add the following lines to your .emacs file (note that we're pointing > to the "lisp" folder *within* the main "org-mode" folder): > > (setq load-path (cons "~/path/to/org-mode/lisp" load-path) > (require 'org-install) > > That's it. However, this will not install the latest info files, so > these will be out of date (corresponding to whatever version of Org > shipped with your emacs). See XXXX for instructions on installing the > info files. > > Now, Emacs should load whatever version of Org-mode you put at > "~/path/to/org-mode". So to update Org in the future, simply delete that > folder and replace it with a new one (steps 1 and 2 above). > > Footnotes: > > [1] On Windows, this path might look something like > "C:\\path\to\org-mode" > > Dan > > > > "Gez" writes: > >> I'm a beginner on windows and I'm prepared to learn slowly and steadily, >> but I'm having trouble getting started. I have GNU Emacs 23.2.1 and I'd >> like to get the latest version of orgmode (my version has no >> org-capture). I see from >> http://orgmode.org/worg/org-hacks.php#compiling-org-without-make that >> this problem has been addressed, but I'm still not clear on what to do... >> >> 1. How I find out which version of orgmode I have? I'm assuming from >> http://orgmode.org/ that it's 6.21b, but is there a way of confirming >> this? > > M-x org-version > >> >> 2. Do I need to compile at all? At least in order to get started >> learning and using it? > > No, it is not necessary to compile. Some experienced Org users do not > compile at all, because they upgrade very often and don't want to risk > accidentally forgetting to recompile. > >> 3. Whether or not I compile, how do I "install" the downloaded org-mode >> files? Should I just copy them into \emacs-23.2\lisp\org (where my org >> lisp files are now) and let them overwrite where necessary? >> >> 3. In the example path in the function on >> http://orgmode.org/worg/org-hacks.php#compiling-org-without-make, the >> org-lisp-directory is under .emacs.d but my org files are under >> \emacs-23.2\lisp\org - does this matter? >> >> 4. Assuming the path is ok as it is, how do I enter the path into the >> function - do I write the whole path - e.g. Q:\progs\emacs-23.2\lisp\org >> ? >> >> 5. What option should I choose for org-compile-sources in the function? >> (I don't know what it means.) >> >> 6. Finally, how do I use this function? Do I write it to my .emacs and >> then call it? What is the command? >>