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Install on Windows

The Windows build is a standard installer: Xol-<version>-windows-x64-setup.exe. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, x64.

Install

  1. Run the installer. Double-click the .exe you were sent.
  2. Get past SmartScreen. Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" because the installer is not signed with a code-signing certificate. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
  3. Follow the wizard. Xol installs for the current user only and does not need administrator rights. You can change the installation folder.
  4. Start Xol from the Start menu.

Why SmartScreen appears

Development builds are not signed with an Authenticode certificate, so Windows has no publisher to show and no reputation for the file. If you were given a SHA-256 checksum with the installer, you can compare it. In PowerShell: Get-FileHash .\Xol-0.2.0-windows-x64-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256.

What the installer does
Scope Per user. Nothing is installed machine-wide.
Administrator rights Not needed.
Installation folder You can choose it in the wizard.
Data folder %APPDATA%\Xol. Instances, worlds, settings and downloaded game files live there, not in the installation folder.
Uninstalling Removes the program only. %APPDATA%\Xol, including every instance and world, is kept.

The automated build checks a silent install, the presence of Xol.exe, and that a silent uninstall leaves %APPDATA%\Xol\instances in place, on Windows Server 2022. No person has walked through the Windows interface on real hardware yet, and Minecraft has not been started through Xol on Windows.

Updates on Windows

From launcher 0.2.2 on, updates install themselves. Xol downloads the new installer in the background, verifies it against its signed release record, and runs it silently when you close Xol or press Restart and update. This was exercised on an automated Windows Server 2022 machine (a silent update over an existing install, after which Xol starts again), not yet on a tester's PC. See Updates.

If you move from 0.2.0 to a later build, Windows may list two entries for Xol under installed apps, because the application identifier changed after 0.2.0. Your data folder is the same for both and is not touched by removing the older entry.

Removing Xol

Use Settings ▸ Apps ▸ Installed apps, find Xol and choose Uninstall. Your data folder stays. See Reset and uninstall for a complete removal.