How to do it...

Once you have downloaded the executable file, you are ready to install it on your computer. Perform the following steps and choose the options accordingly. The screenshots are for your convenience only:

1. Go to the folder where you have stored the executable file that you have downloaded, by following the instructions in the previous section.

1. If you have administrator privileges, then just double-click on the executable file, or right-click on the mouse and select Run as administrator:

1. In Windows 7, it will show a notification with the title User Access Control. In this case, you must choose Yes to proceed.
2. The first thing it will ask you to do is choose a language, as shown in the following screenshot. Once you select your chosen language, click on the OK button. The R Setup Wizard will appear, and you will see various options to select in different pages:

1. Click on Next > on this page to proceed with the installation:

1. On this page, the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE information will be displayed, and you will be asked to read and understand the licensing agreement and then click on the Next > button:

1. Now, you will be asked to choose the destination folder where you want to store the installation files. Usually, by default, it shows C:/Program Files/, and sometimes, it also shows one more level C:/Program Files/R/R-x.x.x. You can keep the default location, or you can choose a separate destination based on your choice. Once you have selected the destination, click on the Next > button:

1. At this stage, you will get the option to select the component that you want to install. You can choose either 32-bit Files only, 64-bit Files only, or both along with core files and message translation. After selecting the components, again click on the Next > button:

1. Now, you will be asked whether you want to customize your startup or accept the defaults. The recommended option at this stage is to accept the defaults and click on the Next > button:

1. You can decide whether you want to create the start menu folder or not and you can specify its name at this stage of installation:

1. Finally, you will be given the option to choose whether you want to create a desktop icon and also create a quick launch icon. You can specify whether you want to save the version number into the computer's registry or not, and the last option is to associate file name extensions .R and .RData with the software. Once you are done with selecting the options, click on Next > and the installation will be started: