Before we can show you how to configure the software, though, you need to download a copy and installit. So, open up your web browser, visit www.machsupport.com, click the Downloads menu, select Machand LazyCam, and follow the instructions on the page that opens to download the installation file.
After downloading the installation file, double-click it and follow the instructions to install it. When you get to the screen for creating a profile (shown in Figure 18-2), just click the Next button to skip it.
Figure 18-2. Skip this step when installing Mach3.
The installation will also allow you to install LazyCam, a CAM application that can work hand inhand with Mach3 once you have a CAD file that needs converting to G-Code. You can choose to install it or not; we recommend going ahead and installing it as it doesn’t take much hard drive space and you may find it useful for generating G-Code. At some point in the installation, Mach3 will want to install a parallel port driver, as shown in Figure 18-3. This is normal, so click the Next button and follow the instructions to allow Mach3 to install this driver.
Figure 18-3. Let Mach3 install the parallel port driver.
When the installation is complete, restart your system and when brought back to your desktop, you’ll have a handful of shortcut applications added to your desktop. The shortcut icon that we’ll be using is titled Mach3Mill—go ahead and double-click that icon to open Mach3.
