This has a lot of detail and images but it was made for people tying to install SWI-Prolog for the first time.
This page was last checked/updated on December 11, 2023.
Google Chrome was used in the process of making this. Some of the more specific steps related to downloading the executable (steps 7 and 8) will be different based on Internet browser but the concept remains the same.
While this uses the development version of the software as an example, the steps are almost identical for the stable version. The reason the development version is demonstrated is because if you have a bug and seek assistance on the forum you might be asked to upgrade to the latest development version.
Also Microsoft makes it hard to install applications that it doesn’t consider secure, this is evident as shown in step 9 where clicking on More info
is not a customary step when installing software.
Note: SWI-Prolog does not require the previous version be uninstalled.
-
Using an Internet browser navigate to SWI-Prolog home page: https://www.swi-prolog.org/
-
Mouse over
Download
-
Click
SWI-Prolog
This will take you download page: SWI-Prolog downloads -
Under
Available versions
clickDevelopment release
This will take you to SWI-Prolog development downloads page: SWI-Prolog downloads -
a. Under
Binaries
find the (64-bit) version.
b. If you want to check out the release notes for the version they can be found here.
c. Click on the (64-bit) version.
For this example it currently is SWI-Prolog 8.5.3-1 for Microsoft Windows (64 bit)
-
For the notification page (Note the version numbers are different in the screen shot than the rest of the example because the image was taken for an edit to this post).
a. SelectI understand
b. ClickDownload swipl-8.1.12-1.x64.exe
-
Note: If you have previously downloaded the SWI-Prolog Windows executable a dialog will not appear asking for a directory, just move onto step f.
a, ASave As
dialog will on Windows.
b. Select a directory and clickSave
c. In the lower left of the Internet browser screen a dialog will appear with the name of the file
d. Click on the and selectOpen
e. Move onto step 8.
f. If the dialog does not appear then go to the Downloads directory, e.g.C:\Users\<User>\Downloads
replacing <User> with the current user.
g. Right click on the file name and selectOpen
-
A Windows security dialog should appear
Windows Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.
or
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.
- Click
More info
to reveal the option to run the executable to install SWI-Prolog
-
Click
Run anyway
This will start the installer and Windows will prompt you to elevate to admin.
This will open a User Account Control dialog (Sorry for not getting an image, would have to disable some security features to get it).
Note: If you do not see aUser Account Control
dialog then useAlt+Tab
to rotate through the windows until you see it. -
Click
Yes
This will start the install wizard.
- Click
Next
- Click
I Agree
- Click
Next
- Click
Next
- Click
Next
- Click
Install
17 a. If during the install you get a dialog noting
Error opening file for writing: ...
Check to make sure you do not have an application with a lock on a file that includes the installation path, e.g. C:\Program Files\swipl
. Typical applications are SWI-Prolog, Windows File Explorer, editors such as VSCode, etc. After clearing the lock click Retry
. If you can not find the lock then a reboot is necessary.
- Click
Finish
To start SWI-Prolog
In lower left click on start button
Then at top of dialog
click SWI-Prolog
This will start SWI-Prolog console
For older versions there are
HTML pages
current stable version
older stable versions
and directories
Index of /download/stable/bin
Index of /download/devel/bin
For daily builds see: Download daily builds for Windows
How to uninstall SWI-Prolog.
Note: SWI-Prolog does not require the previous version be uninstalled. If a previous version is installed then during the install an additional dialog will appear asking if you want to uninstall the previous version. You can answer either Yes
or No
depending upon your preference; the install should complete successfully either way.
- Using Windows File Explorer navigate to
C:\Program Files\swipl
- Click on
Uninstall.exe
- For
User Account Control
dialog clickYes
.
4 ClickUninstall
- Click
Close
NB The directory should be either empty or have only a few files left in it. During this example the only file left wasC:\Program Files\swipl\boot64.prc