Installing LightWave

By default, LightWave installs into the "Program Files" directory. A fresh LightWave 8 install, for example, is located at C:\Program Files\LightWave [8]

I prefer not to install LightWave in the "Program Files" directory. This is for a number of reasons too numerous (and tedious) to go into here, however see the article Why Spaces Are Bad for an explanation of just one of those reasons.

I also prefer to leave the C: drive for the operating system and boring stuff like Microsoft Office.

I've found it advantageous to standardise my LightWave installations on the D: drive (unfortunately, a lot of PC manufacturers aren't as clever as me and ship new PCs with the CD-ROM/DVD drive using this letter), and configure the CD-ROM and/or DVD drive(s) as the E: and (if needed) F: drives.

I use a different folder for each release. As upgrades are added, I progress through the numbers, deleting previous point releases once I'm happy with the new build. I do keep the last version of each major release for backward compatability, so on my PC I currently have the following:

Example: Installing LightWave 8.0

Run the LightWave installer and install to D:\LightWave_80

I recommend you install only the main files - we'll deal with the "Content" later.

If you need to add LightWave updates to the base install, click here, or go on to setting up a LightWave Configs folder.