How to use Python's "easy_install" on Windows ... it's not so easy

If you are using windows 7 64-bit version, then the solution is found here: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools

namely, you need to download a python script, run it, and then easy_install will work normally from commandline.

P.S. I agree with the original poster saying that this should work out of the box.

One problem is that easy_install is set up to download and install .egg files or source distributions (contained within .tgz, .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, or .zip files). It doesn't know how to deal with the PyWin32 extensions because they are put within a separate installer executable. You will need to download the appropriate PyWin32 installer file (for Python 2.7) and run it yourself. When you run easy_install again (provided you have it installed right, like in Sergio's instructions), you should see that your winpexpect package has been installed correctly.

Since it's Windows and open source we are talking about, it can often be a messy combination of install methods to get things working properly. However, easy_install is still better than hand-editing configuration files, for sure.

I also agree with the OP that all these things should come with Python already set. I guess we will have to deal with it until that day comes. Here is a solution that actually worked for me :

installing easy_install faster and easier

I hope it helps you or anyone with the same problem!