Install Packages (for dummies) - package

Question

I know there's a lot of information on here about installing python packages, but I'm quite new to python and I think I need a more "for dummies" level of help.
I was trying to install openpyxl for which as far as I can tell I need easy_install, for which, as far as I can tell, I need setuptools. I tried running the code provided here https://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools which is supposed to download and install setuptools (and according to some sites, easy_install aswell?) - it runs successfully, but help(modules) doesn't show setuptools or easy_install as modules, I have no idea whats installed and what isn't, or how I'm supposed to install any of it!
Essentially I'm very confused, very frustrated and really need someone to talk me through (in idiot-speak) what I'm supposed to do.
Thankyou!

Answer 1

We all start somewhere, I was there two weeks ago.
I'll assume you're using Python2. I believe Distribute and Pip are recommended for Python3 (which I will be using as examples). I will also assume you are on Windows.
First, python needs to be registered to Path. To check if this has been done automatically, open a command prompt (start -> programs -> accessories), and type 'python', then enter. If it returns the version number, etc, skip down a bit. If it throws an error, you need to add Python to Path.
Adding Python to Path
To add Python to Path on a Windows computer, go to:
Control Panel -> System -> Advanced Settings -> Environment Settings -> System Variables
Scroll down to select path, then click edit. Copy the entire line to a text document, and add your install directory for Python.exe (and the scripts folder) using ';' as a delimiter between different directories. Copy this back to Path and save. (Additionally close your command prompt window to reset it.)
For my Windows 7 machine, I added:
;C:\Python33;C:\Python33\scripts;
Take care when editing this file. There are many videos out there describing this in detail if you feel unsure about changing this.
Installing Modules (Such as setup_tools)
Once Python is registered in the Path file, download and unzip setup_tools to a folder within your Python install directory called 'modules'. I use ExtractNow to unzip, as it will unzip twice (as required) automatically.
Open a command prompt window again, and direct it to change directories by typing
cd [directory for module you want to install]
On my computer, this would be
cd C:\Python33\modules\distribute-0.6.40
Again, I use distribute, rather than setup_tools as it sounds like you need would for Python2. Simply use the appropriate directory. Press enter to change the directory.
Once you've entered this and it shows a changed directory, type:
python setup.py install
This indicates that you want to use the program python to use the setup.py file in the specified folder to install the module. This should be successful, and will write many lines of code.
If you want to install other modules, you would install them in a similar way. Python would automatically use setup_tools on your computer to finish each install.
Remember to import at the start of your script when using them to code:
import [module]
Happy Programming!