Q:

Pytables 2.3.1 with Python 2.5 on Windows: Error - could not find a local hdf5 installation

I'm trying to install PyTables 2.3.1 on Windows XP with Python 2.5. I'm getting the following error:
Could not find a local HDF5 installation.
You may need to explicitly state where your local HDF5 
headers and library can be found by setting the HDF5_DIR 
environment variable or by using the --hdf5 command-line option.

I'm a bit confused by the installation of the HDF5 library. I downloaded the Windows binary called HDF5188-win32-shared.zip from the HDF5 site and ran the .exe file in the zip archive. I now have what looks like an installation of the HDF5 library in this folder:
C:\Program Files\HDF Group\HDF5\1.8.8

I've tried creating an environment variable called HDF5_DIR pointing to this folder, but still no joy. I'm obviously not installing the right bit of the HDF5 library, but I don't know what I should be doing instead.
Does anyone have any suggestions, please?
Thanks!

A:

from the docs you can try:
Put the DLL libraries (hdf5dll.dll and, optionally, lzo1.dll and bzip2.dll) 

in a directory listed in your PATH environment variable

. The setup.py installation program will print out a warning to that effect if the libraries can not be found.
locate 

hdf5dll.dll

and make sure dir containig it is in the PATH var or you can try --hdf5=path/to/ command

