How to install Kodi on Windows
In this guide we will see the steps to install Kodi on Windows . This guide is valid for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, since the steps are the same. The guide is for Kodi 16.1 Jarvis, Kodi 17 Krypton, Kodi 18 Leia and higher versions. We assume that you already know what this application is about, but, if you don't know it, you can check the link what Kodi is and what it is used for .
Since Kodi is a 64-bit application after the launch of Kodi 18 Leia, it is also possible to install it from the Microsoft App Store , available on Windows 10 . In this guide we will see both the installation from the Microsoft App Store and the classic installation . In addition, we will also see how to create a portable version .
Kodi official requirements
Kodi is compatible with a large number of systems. It is not an application that requires advanced knowledge, so anyone can install it. There are some system requirements that you need to meet in order to run Kodi on Windows. These are the requirements of the latest version of Kodi :
CPU : Kodi will work with any processor, either 32 or 64 bit. In particular, you need an Intel Pentium 4 processor, Athlon 64 or higher. Basically, any processor that is from 2005 or newer will be more than enough.
RAM : Kodi needs you to have at least 1GB of RAM, although it is recommended that you have at least 2GB in case you run any other application in the background in addition to Kodi. This amount of RAM may vary depending on the operating system.
GPU : Any graphics card with support for DirectX 9 will work with Kodi. Basically, it will serve any graphics card that is from 2008 or newer that is compatible with the Kodi decoding system. Among them: ATI Radeon R420 or higher, and NVIDIA GeForce 6 or higher. However, Kodi developers recommend having at least one ATI Radeon R700 or an NVidia GeForce 8 series graphics card.
HDD : Kodi needs you to have at least 200MB of free space on your hard drive. To play streaming content without problems, the necessary free space amounts to 500MB. In case you have a local bookstore or if you are going to download content, make sure you have enough space available.
SO : The Windows version of Kodi requires that you have Windows 7 or any other newer version of Windows installed. Unfortunately, Kodi is not available for Windows XP or Windows Vista, since they do not support hardware video decoding . If you have a very old computer on which you cannot install Windows 7, you better try to install any Linux distribution.
Given the requirements of Kodi, let's look at the different methods of installing Kodi on Windows.
Installing Kodi on Windows: Quick Version
As a quick guide, you must follow these steps:
Download the latest version of Kodi for Windows from the official website .
Click on the Kodi file you downloaded to start the installer.
Click on the "Run" button .
When the installer window appears, click on "Next" .
Once the installation is complete, click "Finish " to close the installer.
Manual installation of Kodi on Windows
In case you have difficulties, here is the most detailed version of the previous guide. Let's install Kodi by downloading the .EXE file from the official website. To do this, follow these steps:
The first thing you should do is access the download page of the official Kodi website . If you scroll down, you will see the versions of Kodi available for each system.
Click on the Windows version . A panel with the different versions that you can download will be displayed.
Depending on your operating system you may have to download the 32-bit or 64-bit version. If your processor is 64-bit, which is most likely, download the INSTALLER (64BIT) file . If, on the other hand, your processor is 32 bits, something unlikely, download the INSTALLER (32BIT) file . You can also download developing versions of Kodi, but it is not recommended, as they can cause problems.
Once the file has been downloaded, run it. The file has surely been downloaded to the Window download folder or on the desktop . Use the Windows file explorer to access it.
Running the .EXE file will start the Kodi installer. You will have to follow the steps that the Kodi installation wizard will show on the screen. There are some different components that you can choose if you want them to be installed or not, such as the Addons of the audio coding, The Addons PVR and some skins. If this is your first Kodi installation, it is recommended to keep the default components. Finally, you can choose the installation path . The default path is C: \ Program Files \ Kodi , but you can change the path if you prefer to install the application somewhere else or on another hard drive . Then you can decide if you want to add a shortcut on the desktop or in the start menu.
When the installation is complete, you can choose an option to run Kodi when closing the installer.
Once the installation is complete, click on the new Kodi icon in the start menu or on the taskbar. When you start the program, you should be able to see the Kodi home screen.
And that's all. You have already installed Kodi on Windows. Let's now see how to perform a portable installation of Kodi.
Installing Kodi from the App Store
Let's see how to install Kodi on Windows using the Windows App Store. You must follow these steps:
Start the Windows App Store . You can find it if you go to the start menu and type "Store " in the search field. The search results should include the Windows App Store. Click on it to start it.
Once in the App Store , you can use the search field in the upper right. Type "Kodi" and then press Enter . Kodi should appear in the search results . You will see different applications with a similar name, but you are only interested in the official one, created by the XMBC Foundation .
By clicking on the Kodi icon you will go to the application preview. Being free, just click on Install .
Kodi will download and install the application in Windows as a background task. When the installation is finished, a notification will be displayed in the lower right part of the screen. Click on it to start Kodi.
Kodi is already installed on Windows. You can access Kodi from the start menu , either by browsing the menus or by typing "Kodi" in the search field.
Use the installation method you use, the result will always be the same, since the Kodi version will be the same in all cases. However, if you download Kodi from the App Store you will have an additional advantage, and you can keep the application updated at all times.
In case the App Store does not work, you can try the manual installation method, which is to download the Kodi installer with EXE extension from the official website.
Use Kodi in a portable way
We will create a portable version of Kodi. For this method you will need a USB drive. You must follow these steps:
Download Kodi from the official website. To do this, access the download page of the official Kodi website and scroll until you see the list with the different versions of Kodi. Click on Windows . You can see different installers; click on Installer (64BIT) to download the version for 64-bit processors. If your processor is 32 bits, download the INSTALLER version (32BIT) .
Once you have downloaded the file, start the .EXE file to run the Kodi installer . On this occasion you should carefully look at the different options.
You will be asked where you want to install Kodi. Click Search and select the USB drive , which should be inserted into a port on your computer. Click Continue to the last step of the installation. Do not finish the installation of Kodi.
In the last step of the installation you can mark the option to run Kodi at the end of the installation . Make sure this option is not selected . Finally, the installation of Kodi is finished.
Once the installation is finished, access the directory in which you have installed Kodi, which will be inside the USB drive.
In the Kodi installation directory you will see that there is a file called Kodi.exe . You must create a shortcut for this file. To do this, right-click on the file and select the Create shortcut option . Drag this file to the Windows desktop. Another option to create the shortcut is to right-click on the file and select the Send to -> Desktop (create shortcut) copy .
On the desktop, right-click on the shortcut you just created and then select Properties . You will see a field called Destination . You must add «-p» (without quotes) at the end of the file name shown in this field. For example, if the file is located in «G: \ kodi.exe» , it should look like this: «G: \ kodi.exe -p» . Then click Apply and then OK .
Then, start Kodi from this shortcut.
Now, each file or Addon you install will be saved in the Kodi directory itself, located on the external drive. These files include addons, local content, skins and user data. You can find these files in the portable_data folder , within the Kodi installation directory. Similarly, any changes you make will be effective in the external unit.
You can use this version of Kodi on any other computer without any problem.
Since Kodi is a 64-bit application after the launch of Kodi 18 Leia, it is also possible to install it from the Microsoft App Store , available on Windows 10 . In this guide we will see both the installation from the Microsoft App Store and the classic installation . In addition, we will also see how to create a portable version .
Kodi official requirements
Kodi is compatible with a large number of systems. It is not an application that requires advanced knowledge, so anyone can install it. There are some system requirements that you need to meet in order to run Kodi on Windows. These are the requirements of the latest version of Kodi :
CPU : Kodi will work with any processor, either 32 or 64 bit. In particular, you need an Intel Pentium 4 processor, Athlon 64 or higher. Basically, any processor that is from 2005 or newer will be more than enough.
RAM : Kodi needs you to have at least 1GB of RAM, although it is recommended that you have at least 2GB in case you run any other application in the background in addition to Kodi. This amount of RAM may vary depending on the operating system.
GPU : Any graphics card with support for DirectX 9 will work with Kodi. Basically, it will serve any graphics card that is from 2008 or newer that is compatible with the Kodi decoding system. Among them: ATI Radeon R420 or higher, and NVIDIA GeForce 6 or higher. However, Kodi developers recommend having at least one ATI Radeon R700 or an NVidia GeForce 8 series graphics card.
HDD : Kodi needs you to have at least 200MB of free space on your hard drive. To play streaming content without problems, the necessary free space amounts to 500MB. In case you have a local bookstore or if you are going to download content, make sure you have enough space available.
SO : The Windows version of Kodi requires that you have Windows 7 or any other newer version of Windows installed. Unfortunately, Kodi is not available for Windows XP or Windows Vista, since they do not support hardware video decoding . If you have a very old computer on which you cannot install Windows 7, you better try to install any Linux distribution.
Given the requirements of Kodi, let's look at the different methods of installing Kodi on Windows.
Installing Kodi on Windows: Quick Version
As a quick guide, you must follow these steps:
Download the latest version of Kodi for Windows from the official website .
Click on the Kodi file you downloaded to start the installer.
Click on the "Run" button .
When the installer window appears, click on "Next" .
Once the installation is complete, click "Finish " to close the installer.
Manual installation of Kodi on Windows
In case you have difficulties, here is the most detailed version of the previous guide. Let's install Kodi by downloading the .EXE file from the official website. To do this, follow these steps:
The first thing you should do is access the download page of the official Kodi website . If you scroll down, you will see the versions of Kodi available for each system.
Click on the Windows version . A panel with the different versions that you can download will be displayed.
Depending on your operating system you may have to download the 32-bit or 64-bit version. If your processor is 64-bit, which is most likely, download the INSTALLER (64BIT) file . If, on the other hand, your processor is 32 bits, something unlikely, download the INSTALLER (32BIT) file . You can also download developing versions of Kodi, but it is not recommended, as they can cause problems.
Once the file has been downloaded, run it. The file has surely been downloaded to the Window download folder or on the desktop . Use the Windows file explorer to access it.
Running the .EXE file will start the Kodi installer. You will have to follow the steps that the Kodi installation wizard will show on the screen. There are some different components that you can choose if you want them to be installed or not, such as the Addons of the audio coding, The Addons PVR and some skins. If this is your first Kodi installation, it is recommended to keep the default components. Finally, you can choose the installation path . The default path is C: \ Program Files \ Kodi , but you can change the path if you prefer to install the application somewhere else or on another hard drive . Then you can decide if you want to add a shortcut on the desktop or in the start menu.
When the installation is complete, you can choose an option to run Kodi when closing the installer.
Once the installation is complete, click on the new Kodi icon in the start menu or on the taskbar. When you start the program, you should be able to see the Kodi home screen.
And that's all. You have already installed Kodi on Windows. Let's now see how to perform a portable installation of Kodi.
Installing Kodi from the App Store
Let's see how to install Kodi on Windows using the Windows App Store. You must follow these steps:
Start the Windows App Store . You can find it if you go to the start menu and type "Store " in the search field. The search results should include the Windows App Store. Click on it to start it.
Once in the App Store , you can use the search field in the upper right. Type "Kodi" and then press Enter . Kodi should appear in the search results . You will see different applications with a similar name, but you are only interested in the official one, created by the XMBC Foundation .
By clicking on the Kodi icon you will go to the application preview. Being free, just click on Install .
Kodi will download and install the application in Windows as a background task. When the installation is finished, a notification will be displayed in the lower right part of the screen. Click on it to start Kodi.
Kodi is already installed on Windows. You can access Kodi from the start menu , either by browsing the menus or by typing "Kodi" in the search field.
Use the installation method you use, the result will always be the same, since the Kodi version will be the same in all cases. However, if you download Kodi from the App Store you will have an additional advantage, and you can keep the application updated at all times.
In case the App Store does not work, you can try the manual installation method, which is to download the Kodi installer with EXE extension from the official website.
Use Kodi in a portable way
We will create a portable version of Kodi. For this method you will need a USB drive. You must follow these steps:
Download Kodi from the official website. To do this, access the download page of the official Kodi website and scroll until you see the list with the different versions of Kodi. Click on Windows . You can see different installers; click on Installer (64BIT) to download the version for 64-bit processors. If your processor is 32 bits, download the INSTALLER version (32BIT) .
Once you have downloaded the file, start the .EXE file to run the Kodi installer . On this occasion you should carefully look at the different options.
You will be asked where you want to install Kodi. Click Search and select the USB drive , which should be inserted into a port on your computer. Click Continue to the last step of the installation. Do not finish the installation of Kodi.
In the last step of the installation you can mark the option to run Kodi at the end of the installation . Make sure this option is not selected . Finally, the installation of Kodi is finished.
Once the installation is finished, access the directory in which you have installed Kodi, which will be inside the USB drive.
In the Kodi installation directory you will see that there is a file called Kodi.exe . You must create a shortcut for this file. To do this, right-click on the file and select the Create shortcut option . Drag this file to the Windows desktop. Another option to create the shortcut is to right-click on the file and select the Send to -> Desktop (create shortcut) copy .
On the desktop, right-click on the shortcut you just created and then select Properties . You will see a field called Destination . You must add «-p» (without quotes) at the end of the file name shown in this field. For example, if the file is located in «G: \ kodi.exe» , it should look like this: «G: \ kodi.exe -p» . Then click Apply and then OK .
Then, start Kodi from this shortcut.
Now, each file or Addon you install will be saved in the Kodi directory itself, located on the external drive. These files include addons, local content, skins and user data. You can find these files in the portable_data folder , within the Kodi installation directory. Similarly, any changes you make will be effective in the external unit.
You can use this version of Kodi on any other computer without any problem.
Comments
Post a Comment