Hi. I am new to the forum. I was really confused by the fact that I could not install the LAME encoder. I installed Audacity through the exe, and I am running Windows 7. First, I tried to install LAME encoder, and I clicked “run” when it asked if I wanted to run or save, thinking it would open up an installer. Instead, nothing happened. So, I tried again. Nothing happened at all. This has been happening all day, and I would like to export a lot of bass boosted music that I cannot export right now.
The alternate is to download the zip file and explode that into the installer material.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/help/manual/man/faq_installation_and_plug_ins.html#lame
Koz
Try running the installer as an Administrator.
I tried all the above: as exec, zip, manually and alas, the lame .dll won’t install and be recognized in 7. Over, and over, and over again, I’ve tried to install LAME and nada. I uninstalled the beta so there would be no conflict. I liked Audacity but I’m about to uninstall it completely as it is useless without a functional LAME encoder 
If you use “run” there is a good chance that security software will block the run because running installers from temporary space is seen as a threat. Save the installer then run the saved installer.
If you use the zip there is no installation. Put lame_enc.dll where you want it then use the Libraries Preferences of Audacity 2.0.2 to tell Audacity where LAME is. That’s Edit > Preferences, then choose “Libraries” on the left, then browse for and open your copy of lame_enc.dll.
If you put lame_enc.dll in the same folder you have Audacity installed in, MP3 export should just work, as long as there are no conflicting settings anywhere telling Audacity that lame_enc.dll is somewhere else.
So put lame_enc.dll in the Audacity installation folder. If Audacity won’t export MP3 after that, File > Exit from Audacity then follow these instructions Audacity Manual to reset Audacity settings. The easiest way is to run the Audacity installer (not the LAME installer) again, and choose the option to “Reset Preferences”. MP3 export will then work, as long as lame_enc.dll is in the same folder where Audacity is installed.
Gale
Gale, thank you for replying.
I have been going out of my mind with this problem. Not to mention all the time going over and over it.
I will give your suggestion a go.
I’ll post back how it goes.
Thnaks 
I manually placed the LAME.dll in the Aud folder.
So I did a search of my entire pc and found that I am using the the LAME.dll in a bunch of other apps. Like, Winamp, Audio Extractor, DVD Creator and Boxoft.
Hmmmm… do I need to uninstall of these other apps using the LAME .dll in order to force 7 to recognize the LAME .dll in Audacity? 
Thanks.
To be clear, it has to be lame_enc.dll downloaded from http://lame1.buanzo.com.ar/#lamewindl .
Do you mean that those apps have different copies of lame_enc.dll in their Program Files folders?
You should not need to do anything else than exactly what I said. You don’t need to uninstall those other programs and Audacity should not not find the copies of lame_enc.dll that those other programs have.
Please try exporting as MP3 now from Audacity and let us know what happens. If there is an error, tell us what it says.
Gale
I too have Windows 7 (64 bit) and could not “export” MP3 in Audacity. I tried the download method described in the link below and presto it ran perfectly for me first time after that install. Hope you get yours running.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_installation_and_plug_ins.html
P.S. Be sure to use the correct download for our Window 7 64 bit systems. It’s “Lame V3.99.3 for Windows.exe”
I’m not using windose 7 64bit. But thanks for your reply. I’m using the 32bit .dll
I still have never been able to convince Aud to recognize the mp3 .dll no matter what I have done which is everything suggested. I just can’t figure out what I am doing wrong or not doing right. I know there is nothing magical about this; I’m just not seeing something
There is only one (32-bit) DLL.
How far did you get with my previous response? See above Computer Won't let me install LAME encoder - #8 by Gale_Andrews .
Do you have lame_enc.dll from http://lame1.buanzo.com.ar/#lamewindl in the same folder that has audacity.exe and the “Plug-Ins” folder? What happens when you export an MP3 (exact text of the error message)?
If there is an error, please click Help > Show Log…, then click Log > Save… and attach the log to your reply. Here is how to attach the file to your reply https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1 .
Gale