Using Anaconda with Windows.

Disclaimer

These instructions come with no warranty. I do not use Windows. If you have any questions about Windows then I cannot answer them. If you have any constructive comments the please contact me.

Anaconda is a distribution of Python and R that includes many popular Data Science packages, such as Jupyter Notebook, NumPy, pandas, and scikit-learn. For numerous reasons, it is suggested for working with Jupyter Notebook.

  1. Ease of installation: Anaconda comes with a built-in package manager called conda, which makes it easy to install and manage packages, including Jupyter Notebook. Anaconda also automatically manages dependencies between packages, so you do not have to worry about conflicts between different versions of packages.

  2. Integrated development environment (IDE): Anaconda includes an IDE called Anaconda Navigator, which provides a user-friendly interface for managing your Python environment and launching Jupyter Notebook.

  3. Large collection of pre-installed packages: Anaconda comes with a large collection of pre-installed packages, which can save you a lot of time compared to installing each package individually.

  4. Virtual environment management: Anaconda comes with conda which is a powerful virtual environment manager that allows you to create and manage multiple isolated environments, each with its own set of packages. This can help you to avoid conflicts between packages and maintain reproducibility of your projects.

Now that we know the advantages of using Anaconda, we proceed with a detailed explanation of how to install anaconda and subsequently open Jupyter notebooks through Anaconda. There are two options to do this.

First option

  1. First, download the Anaconda distribution for Windows from https://www.anaconda.com/products/distribution.

  2. Once the download is complete, double-click the installer file to begin the installation process.

  3. Follow the prompts in the installer to complete the installation. During this process, you will be prompted to select the installation location. By default, Anaconda will be installed in the C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3 folder, but you can choose a different location if you prefer. The next screen is the Advanced Installation Options. Here you have some additional options like if you want to add anaconda to your PATH variable, and if you want to register Anaconda as your default Python. Make sure you check the “Add Anaconda to my PATH environment variable” option, it will make your life easier.

  4. Once the installation is complete, open the Start menu and search for “Anaconda Prompt”. Click on the Anaconda Prompt shortcut to open a command prompt window.

  5. In the command prompt window, type the following command to verify that Anaconda is installed correctly: conda –version

  6. Next, we need to create a virtual environment in which to install Jupyter Notebook. In the Anaconda prompt, type the following command: conda create -n env_name , replacing env_name with the name you want to give to your virtual environment.

  7. After the environment is created, activate it by typing the following command: conda activate env_name

  8. Once the virtual environment is active, we can install Jupyter Notebook by typing the following command: conda install jupyter

  9. After Jupyter Notebook is installed, we can start the Jupyter Notebook server by typing the following command in the Anaconda prompt: jupyter notebook

  10. This will open a web browser window with the Jupyter Notebook interface. From here, you can create new notebooks, open existing notebooks, and run code cells.

This is a step by step explanation of how to install Anaconda and how to open Jupyter Notebook through the Anaconda prompt, however, with the installation of Anaconda it comes Anaconda Navigator. This is a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to easily manage your Anaconda environments and packages, as well as launch Jupyter Notebook and other applications. Let us see how to open Jupyter Notebook with Anaconda Navigator (more intuitive than the first option).

Second option

  1. Open the Anaconda Navigator application. You can find it by searching for “Anaconda Navigator” in the Start menu (Windows) or Spotlight (Mac).

  2. Once the Anaconda Navigator window is open, you should see Jupyter Notebook in the list of applications. Click on the “Launch” button next to Jupyter Notebook.

  3. A new tab will open in your default web browser, and you will be taken to the Jupyter Notebook interface.

  4. You should see the list of files and directories in the current working directory, you can navigate to the desired folder and create a new notebook by clicking the “New” button on the right corner and select “Python 3”.