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Download Paul’s Dashboard for Windows.

Free, no account, Windows 10 or 11. Installing takes about two minutes. Because each release is new, Windows may stop and ask about it first; this page shows you what that looks like and how to check the file is genuine before you go on.

File: pauls-dashboard-setup-3.1.0.exe, signed by Paul Dalton. How to check

Before you open it

Why Windows may warn you

Windows judges a downloaded program partly by how many people have run it before. A release that came out this week has little history yet, so Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may show a blue Windows protected your PC box even though nothing is wrong with the file. The warning fades as more people install that version.

That does not make the warning something to wave away. It is there because malware also arrives as new, unknown files. The right answer is to check, not to click through, and checking takes about ten seconds.

The installer is digitally signed by Paul Dalton.

Microsoft verified that identity before issuing the signing certificate. The signature also works as a seal: if anyone changes a single byte of the file, Windows reports the signature as broken. So if Windows names Paul Dalton as the publisher, you have the file that was published, unaltered.

Step by step

Installing it

The pictures are drawings of the Windows boxes, so yours may look slightly different. The words and the publisher name are what to look for.

  1. 1

    Save the file

    Your browser may say the file isn’t commonly downloaded. That is the same newness check. Keep it only if it came from paulsdashboard.com and is named pauls-dashboard-setup-3.1.0.exe. In Edge, open the downloads panel, choose the three dots beside the file, then Keep.

  2. 2

    Check who signed it

    In your Downloads folder, right-click the file, choose Properties, then the Digital Signatures tab. The signer should be Paul Dalton. No such tab means the file is not signed: don’t run it. More ways to check are further down.

    Properties, Digital Signatures tab: the signer should be Paul Dalton.
  3. 3

    Open it, and if Windows stops you, choose More info

    Double-click the file. If the blue box appears, don’t decide yet: this first screen doesn’t say who made the program. Choose More info to see it.

    The first SmartScreen screen. It hides the publisher until you choose More info.
  4. 4

    Read the Publisher line

    If it says Publisher: Paul Dalton and the app is pauls-dashboard-setup-3.1.0.exe, this is the signed installer from this site, and you can choose Run anyway to go on.

    If it says Unknown publisher, or any other name, choose Don’t run and delete the file. Every release is signed, so that file was not made here or was changed after it left.

    What a file you should not run looks like.

    After More info. The Publisher line is the one to read.
  5. 5

    Finish setup

    The installer asks who to install for and where. The defaults are fine: just you, with no administrator rights needed. If you choose everyone on the PC, Windows asks for permission first, and that box should also say Verified publisher: Paul Dalton.

    When it finishes, the app opens and keeps an icon in the system tray. Later updates install from inside the app, and the app refuses any update that is not signed by Paul Dalton.

    Only if you install for everyone on the PC.
Check it yourself

Three ways to verify the installer

Any one of these is enough. The first needs no typing; the other two are for anyone who prefers to see it in PowerShell.

1. Properties, then Details

On the Digital Signatures tab from step 2, select Paul Dalton and choose Details. The top of that window should read This digital signature is OK. If it says the signature is not valid, the file was changed after signing.

2. The signature, in PowerShell

Open PowerShell (Start, type PowerShell) and run:

$sig = Get-AuthenticodeSignature "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\pauls-dashboard-setup-3.1.0.exe"
$sig.Status
$sig.SignerCertificate.Subject

You should see exactly this. Anything other than Valid means don’t run it.

Valid
CN=Paul Dalton, O=Paul Dalton, L=Riverside Albert, S=nb, C=CA

3. The checksum

This proves your copy is byte for byte the one on GitHub. Run:

Get-FileHash "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\pauls-dashboard-setup-3.1.0.exe"

The Hash it prints should match the one below (capital or small letters don’t matter).

The checksum appears here once the release details have loaded.

When to stop

Don’t install it if any of these are true

  • SmartScreen says Unknown publisher, or names anyone other than Paul Dalton.
  • The file has no Digital Signatures tab, or its details say the signature is not valid.
  • Microsoft Defender or your antivirus says it found a threat. That is a different message from the blue SmartScreen box, and it should never be overridden.
  • The file came from anywhere other than paulsdashboard.com or the official GitHub release, or its name is not pauls-dashboard-setup- followed by a version number.

Delete the file and download it again from this page. If it happens a second time, please report it on the Discord so it can be looked into straight away.

Questions

Fair things to wonder

Why does a signed app still get a warning?
A signature says who made a file. SmartScreen also wants a track record, which each new version builds as people install it. No certificate can skip that step any more, so even large companies’ new releases sometimes see the box.
Will I see this every time it updates?
Usually not. Updates download and install from inside the app, and it checks each one is signed by Paul Dalton before installing. You only see SmartScreen for a file your browser downloaded.
What does it install?
The app, a Start menu entry and a desktop shortcut, for your user only by default. No services, drivers or browser extensions. The uninstall page lists every folder it uses.