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Download I Need My Geek for Windows

This is the app for your parent's computer. It is free during the closed beta and takes about a minute to install.

Download for Windows

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit

Version and size appear here once the first release is published.

Check the file (SHA-512)

If you like to check what you downloaded: this is the file's SHA-512 fingerprint, in base64. In PowerShell, run the command below on the downloaded file. The two should match exactly.

Shown once the first release is published.[Convert]::ToBase64String([Security.Cryptography.SHA512]::Create().ComputeHash([IO.File]::ReadAllBytes("$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\I-Need-My-Geek-Setup.exe")))

Windows only for now. The Mac version is not ready yet. Join the waitlist and we will tell you.

Do this step together, on the setup call

The app is new, so the first time Windows shows a blue box. Do these clicks together with your parent, on the setup call, not by yourself later. It is a one-time exception, for this one installer, downloaded from this page.

Your Geek will later warn your parent about this same blue box for other programs, and that is right: for anything else, the answer is Don't run.

The blue box does not tell you who made the file. Before you click, check the file's SHA-512 fingerprint (Check the file, above): if it does not match the one this page shows, stop.

  1. Find the blue box that says "Windows protected your PC". Click More info. It is the small text, on the left. Drawn example of the blue Windows box. Step 1: the small "More info" text is circled. Windows protected your PC Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognised app from starting. More info1
  2. A new button appears. Click Run anyway. Drawn example of the same box after clicking More info. Step 2: the "Run anyway" button is circled. Windows protected your PC Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognised app from starting. App: I-Need-My-Geek-Setup.exe Run anyway Don't run 2
  3. If Windows then asks whether to allow the app to make changes, choose Yes.

Does it look different, or did the file come from somewhere else (an email, a message, a link someone sent you)? Stop. Do not run it. Ask us or someone you trust.

What happens next

  1. The installer runs for about a minute.
  2. The family setup screen opens by itself on that computer.
  3. You set up the family circle and link your phone. Your parent does not have to do anything technical.

The full step-by-step beta guide walks through every setup screen. There is also a one-page card to print for your parent.