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“Windows protected your PC”: what it means for AdHole

When you run the AdHole installer, Windows warns that it doesn’t recognise it. Here is why, how to check your file first, and how to continue if you choose to.

  • Windows (64-bit)
  • Unsigned installer
  • Check first

Why

Why the warning appears.

AdHole’s installer isn’t signed with a publisher certificate, a cost this free software hasn’t taken on. So Windows SmartScreen warns that it doesn’t recognise the program (“Windows protected your PC”), and the permission prompt that follows shows “Publisher: Unknown”.

The warning doesn’t mean the file is dangerous, nor that it’s safe: it means Windows can’t vouch for it. What you can check yourself is that your file is exactly the one we publish.

Check

Check the file first.

  1. Open PowerShell.

    Open the Start menu, type PowerShell and press Enter. No administrator rights needed.

  2. Compute the checksum.

    Paste this command. It reads the installer in your Downloads folder: change the path if you saved it elsewhere.

    Get-FileHash "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\adhole-setup-1.5.8.exe" -Algorithm SHA256

  3. Compare the two values.

    The “Hash” line must match the SHA-256 below, character for character. PowerShell writes it in capitals: the letters are the same. The same values are published in the SHA256SUMS file.

Published values

File
adhole-setup-1.5.8.exe
Version
1.5.8
SHA-256
38f4673ff670f236579b3bc06560ea07f147124ff2f2c9279c8d89eee153c6c5

If the two values differ, don’t run the file. Delete it and download it again from the download page.

Continue

Continue with “More info”, then “Run anyway”.

  1. Keep the file.

    Before that, your browser may say the file isn’t commonly downloaded. Choose to keep it.

  2. Click “More info”.

    On the “Windows protected your PC” window, click “More info”. A “Run anyway” button then appears.

  3. Click “Run anyway”.

    Windows then asks whether to allow an app from an unknown publisher to make changes to your device, with “Publisher: Unknown”.

  4. Click “Yes”.

    Installing requires administrator rights: without an administrator account, Windows asks for an administrator’s password. The installer then shows the terms of use before it changes anything.

Your call

If you’d rather not, don’t install it.

There is no signed version of AdHole. If you’re not comfortable running a file that Windows can’t vouch for, even after checking its checksum, don’t install it: that is a sound decision.

A question about the installer? Write to contact@antoinemoury.fr.