i have some problems installing Laravel 4.1 in Windows 7 via the first method explained in the Laravel documentation ( http://laravel.com/docs/installation#install-laravel )
installing laravel is easy way with composer, if you cant use composer, than you can go with laravel.phar file. This method is also easiest way to install laravel on your local machine.
I think it will be useful to install using laravel.phar file.