Setting up a LaTeX System
The CLAS Linux Group have posted this information on behalf of others. This information is likely dated. Use at your own risk.
If you have access to a PC running Windows 95/98/NT, then you can build a complete system for doing all your LaTeX editing, compiling, viewing and printing. It is mostly free (only the text editor I recommend is shareware-- $27-- the rest is freeware) and fairly easy to set up. It is also flexible and easily expandable (you can update to newer versions, add more LaTeX packages/style files, use a freeware text editor instead, etc.).
As an alternative, you can develop your thesis on the UNIX network:
Or learn how to set things up in Win95/98/NT: