How to install python-levenshtein on Windows?
Question: After searching for days I'm about ready to give up finding precompiled
binaries for Python 2.7 (Windows 64-bit) of the [Python Levenshtein
library](http://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-Levenshtein/), so not I'm
attempting to compile it myself. I've installed the most recent version of
_MinGW32_ (version 0.5-beta-20120426-1) and set it as the default compiler in
_distutils_.

Here we go:

    
    
    C:\Users\tomas>pip install python-levenshtein
    Downloading/unpacking python-levenshtein
      Running setup.py egg_info for package python-levenshtein
    
        warning: no files found matching '*' under directory 'docs'
        warning: no previously-included files matching '*pyc' found anywhere in distribution
        warning: no previously-included files matching '.project' found anywhere in distribution
        warning: no previously-included files matching '.pydevproject' found anywhere in distribution
    Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): setuptools in c:\python27\lib\site-packages\setuptools-0.6c11-py2.7.egg (from python-levenshtein)
    Installing collected packages: python-levenshtein
      Running setup.py install for python-levenshtein
        building 'Levenshtein' extension
        C:\MinGW\bin\gcc.exe -mno-cygwin -mdll -O -Wall -IC:\Python27\include -IC:\Python27\PC -c Levenshtein.c -o build\temp.win-amd64-2.7\Release\levenshtein.o
        cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option '-mno-cygwin'
        error: command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1
        Complete output from command C:\Python27\python.exe -c "import setuptools;__file__='c:\\users\\tomas\\appdata\\local\\temp\\pip-build\\python-levenshtein\\setup.py';exec(compile(open(__file__).rea
    d().replace('\r\n', '\n'), __file__, 'exec'))" install --record c:\users\tomas\appdata\local\temp\pip-7txyhp-record\install-record.txt --single-version-externally-managed:
        running install
    
    running build
    
    running build_ext
    
    building 'Levenshtein' extension
    
    C:\MinGW\bin\gcc.exe -mno-cygwin -mdll -O -Wall -IC:\Python27\include -IC:\Python27\PC -c Levenshtein.c -o build\temp.win-amd64-2.7\Release\levenshtein.o
    
    cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option '-mno-cygwin'
    
    error: command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1
    

And now I'm stuck. I'm assuming that the `-mno-cygwin` option is outdated and
no longer valid for the version of `gcc` that I have. If that is the case, I
still have no clue how to fix that.

Thanks for any help anybody can offer on this issue.

* * *

EDIT:

I ran the compile line manually after removing the bad option:

    
    
    C:\MinGW\bin\gcc.exe -mdll -O -Wall -IC:\Python27\include -IC:\Python27\PC -c Levenshtein.c -o build\temp.win-amd64-2.7\Release\levenshtein.o

Which successfully provided _levenshtein.o_ in the build folder, but when I
try to run `python setup.py install` then it just tries to build again and
fails. Where can I remove `-mno-cygwin`? I assume it's somewhere in the source
of _distutils_ but I can't find it.


Answer: download vcsetup.exe from <http://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/download/details.aspx?id=6506> (sorry this link is now broken it was for
VC++ 2008 ... )

run it

after it finishes open your command.exe

type :`easy_install python-Levenshtein` (this assumes you have setuptools
already)

sit back and let it install

done

