Q:

How do I install Pentaho BI CE on windows? 

I'm sure this has a relatively simple answer -_- , but I keep getting a ton of errors and I have no idea why. 
Here is the guide I am following:
http://akbarahmed.com/2012/05/12/install-pentaho-bi-server-4-5-on-windows-7-x64/
I am using Java 1.8.0.05, and biserver-ce-5.0.1-stable
When I run start-pentaho.bat, and the Tomcat window opens, I get a whole host of errors.  
If I go to localhost:8080/pentaho, I get the following errors:
     One or more system listeners failed.  These are set in the systemListeners.xml. 
       org.pentaho.platform.api.engine. PentahoSystemException: PentahoSystem. ERROR_0014 -
 Error while trying to execute startup sequence for
org.pentaho.platform.repository2.unified. BackingRepositoryLifecycleManagerSystemListener

I have gone through this entire process 3 times, but nothing seems to work. 

A:

There are 3 things you have to take care of:

When running on windows, it is easy to run into Windows' path-length limitation.  This then will break the jar-loading which in return gives you random errors as the Tomcat server cannot find the classes contained in these jars.  So when you install, do not install it deep into a directory, keep it at the root of your disk.  From hard experience, I now always install it in DRIVE:\Pentaho 
The Server will not run without the system database.  If your logs show you a Quartz-Error, or a Hibernate error, then your HSQL database is not running.  In the download, you'll find a "data" directory.  Start the "start-hypersonic.bat" before you start the main Pentaho server. 
Pentaho does not run with Java 8.  There seem to be some incompatible changes in the JDK and I have not been able to actually start it up correctly.  You have to use JDK 1.7 to be successful.  ALso make sure that your JAVA_HOME or PENTAHO_JAVA_HOME points to the correct JDK.   
The Pentaho bat files try to locate a Java installation automatically, and without explicitly setting these environment variables, any JDK may be picked up at random.  Usually that is the last JDK that has been installed or updated.  So to be safe, lock down the JDK by setting these variables (via Control Panel-> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Environment Variables)

