Re: MikTeX installation failed

Thank you for your prompt reply. 
Here are answers to your questions
(*) The file 
C:/Users/tolosaj/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/initexmf.log 
 is rather long. The last segment (I think it is the relevant one) reads

2015-11-06 00:40:00,679-0500 FATAL initexmf - Info: C:\Users\tolosaj\AppData\Local\MiKTeX\2.9\miktex/data/le\8086cdfc2118cf3f3b17aa53dd3f2228.fndb
2015-11-06 00:40:00,679-0500 FATAL initexmf - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\win\winFile.cpp
2015-11-06 00:40:00,679-0500 FATAL initexmf - Line: 520
2015-11-06 00:40:08,745-0500 INFO  initexmf - starting: MiKTeX Configuration Utility 2.9.5700 (MiKTeX 2.9)
2015-11-06 00:40:08,752-0500 FATAL initexmf - Windows API error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

2015-11-06 00:40:08,752-0500 FATAL initexmf - Info: C:\Users\tolosaj\AppData\Local\MiKTeX\2.9\miktex/data/le\8086cdfc2118cf3f3b17aa53dd3f2228.fndb
2015-11-06 00:40:08,752-0500 FATAL initexmf - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\win\winFile.cpp
2015-11-06 00:40:08,752-0500 FATAL initexmf - Line: 520
2015-11-06 00:42:21,881-0500 INFO  initexmf - starting: MiKTeX Configuration Utility 2.9.5700 (MiKTeX 2.9)
2015-11-06 00:42:21,912-0500 INFO  initexmf - running '--engine=pdftex --dest-name=pdftex --no-dump pdftex.ini --engine-option=-tcx=cp227.tcx'

(**) The file
C:/Users/tolosaj/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/miktex-pdftex.log
is also rather long. The last segment is

2015-11-06 00:40:00,679-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Line: 290
2015-11-06 00:40:08,594-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - running 'initexmf --quiet --update-fndb' to refresh the file name database
2015-11-06 00:40:08,755-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - The operation failed for some reason.
2015-11-06 00:40:08,755-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Info: C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\initexmf.exe
2015-11-06 00:40:08,755-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\Process.cpp
2015-11-06 00:40:08,755-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Line: 290
2015-11-06 00:43:18,968-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - installing package plgraph triggered by tex\plain\plgraph\miniltx.tex
2015-11-06 00:43:23,277-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: starting package maintenance...
2015-11-06 00:43:23,277-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: installation directory: "C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9"
2015-11-06 00:43:23,277-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: package repository: http://ctan.sharelatex.com/tex-archive/systems/win32/miktex/tm/packages/
2015-11-06 00:43:23,464-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: lightweight database digest: fd7a40a42ed2f1e70be3b6bdb1baccf2
2015-11-06 00:43:23,464-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: going to download 12493 bytes
2015-11-06 00:43:23,464-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: going to install 13 file(s) (1 package(s))
2015-11-06 00:43:23,464-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: downloading http://ctan.sharelatex.com/tex-archive/systems/win32/miktex/tm/packages/plgraph.tar.lzma...
2015-11-06 00:43:23,714-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: 12493 bytes, 52.14 KB/Sec
2015-11-06 00:43:23,714-0500 INFO  miktex-pdftex - mpm: extracting files from plgraph.tar.lzma...
2015-11-06 00:43:23,730-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Windows API error 87: The parameter is incorrect.

2015-11-06 00:43:23,730-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Info: C:\ProgramData\MiKTeX\2.9\miktex/data/le\b1cfc6be702f63eea92ca0fbc9559e5c.fndb
2015-11-06 00:43:23,730-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\win\winMemoryMappedFile.cpp
2015-11-06 00:43:23,730-0500 FATAL miktex-pdftex - Line: 120

(***) You are right about the pdflatex option. I realized the error and later tried pdftex, but still the necessary files were not downloaded. 

I will check the updates, as you suggest. I downloaded MikTeX only yesterday, so I was hoping it would be up-to-date.
Any further advice will be appreciated.

Best,
                 Juan


________________________________________
From: Ulrike Fischer <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, November 6, 2015 9:01 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MiKTeX] MikTeX installation failed

Am Fri, 6 Nov 2015 04:00:53 +0000 schrieb juan tolosa:

> I thought these files were going to be automatically downloaded
> from the internet (this is what happens in my mac, and also in my
> PC at work, running MikTeX), but for some reason they didn't.

It can always happen that a firewall or some virus protection or
some editor hinders the on-the-fly installation. Lastly on-the-fly
failed for me because the repository was not online.

> Can you indicate me what I am doing wrong?

What does the log-files say


C:/Users/tolosaj/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/initexmf.log
C:/Users/tolosaj/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/miktex-pdftex.log

>  (preloaded format=pdflatex 2015.10.2)  2 OCT 2015 19:32

You shouldn't use pdflatex if you want to compile a plain tex file.

> LaTeX2e <2015/01/01> patch level 2

This indicates that your system is not up-to-date. The current latex
format should have a date from october.

You should probably update. But follow the advice regarding critical
updates and check first with the package manager (admin) if there
are new packages:
http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/108447/how-should-one-maintain-and-update-a-miktex-installation/108490#108490

--
Ulrike Fischer
http://www.troubleshooting-tex.de/


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Q: How can I leave the mailing list?
A: See http://docs.miktex.org/faq/support.html#leavingml

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Q: How can I leave the mailing list?
A: See http://docs.miktex.org/faq/support.html#leavingml