How to fix "Windows protected your PC" when installing Hongguo Downloader

This warning trips up a lot of people the first time they install Hongguo Downloader, and it's a fair thing to pause on — a big blue "Windows protected your PC" banner looks alarming. Here's what it actually means and how to get past it safely.

Why this warning shows up

Windows SmartScreen checks two things before it lets an installer run without a prompt: whether the file's digital signature belongs to a publisher with an established reputation, and how many times that specific file has already been downloaded and run across Windows machines. New and independent software — including small, actively-developed tools like Hongguo Downloader — hasn't built up that download history yet, so SmartScreen defaults to caution and shows the warning. This is a popularity/reputation check, not a scan result. It's the same message you'd see on the installer for any small, independently-published Windows app in its early months.

How to get past it (safely)

1. Confirm the source first. Make sure you downloaded HongguoDownloader-Setup.exe from hongguodownloader.com or its linked GitHub release — never a mirror site, forum link, or file-sharing service. This is the one step that actually matters for safety.
2. Run the installer. When "Windows protected your PC" appears, don't close the window — the screen isn't finished.
3. Click "More info". It's a small link in the body of the warning, easy to miss under the bold heading.
4. Click "Run anyway". This button only appears after step 3 — it's Microsoft's deliberate extra click to make sure you're choosing this on purpose.
5. Continue the install as normal. From here it's the regular per-user setup — no admin rights required, no extra prompts.

If "Run anyway" isn't showing up

A few things can hide that option entirely:

• Managed or work devices. Some organizations use Group Policy to disable the SmartScreen bypass completely, so no one sees "Run anyway" for unrecognized apps, no matter what they click. On a company laptop, that's a decision for whoever manages the device, not something you can override from the warning screen.
• The browser already removed the file. Chrome and Edge sometimes flag installers from newer publishers as suspicious during the download itself and delete them before Windows ever gets a chance to show SmartScreen. Check your browser's download bar or history — if it says "blocked" or "deleted," you'll need to re-download and explicitly choose "Keep" or "Keep anyway" when prompted.
• Windows Security quarantined it. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Protection history. If the installer is listed as quarantined or removed, you can restore it from there — but only do this for a file you downloaded directly from the official source.

Why reputation, not a signature check, is the trigger

It helps to know what SmartScreen is actually measuring, because it clears up a common misunderstanding: people assume the warning means the file failed some kind of security scan, and it doesn't. SmartScreen's Application Reputation feature tracks two independent signals for every executable it sees — the publisher identity behind the file's digital signature, and a running count of how many separate Windows machines have downloaded and successfully run that exact file. A brand-new build of an installer resets that second counter to zero even if the same publisher has shipped dozens of earlier versions, because SmartScreen ties reputation to the specific file hash, not just the developer. That's why you can see this warning again after updating Hongguo Downloader to a new version, even though you clicked through it cleanly on the last one — a new build is, to SmartScreen, a new unknown file until enough other people have run it too.

What happens after your first successful run

Nothing changes on your machine specifically — Windows doesn't "whitelist" a file for you personally after you click Run anyway once. What actually reduces how often you'll see the warning is the file's reputation climbing across all Windows machines as more people download and run that same build, which is a gradual, aggregate process outside any single user's control. In practice that means: expect the warning on a fresh install, expect it to reappear the next time there's a new version, and don't read either occurrence as a sign something's wrong — it's just how SmartScreen treats software from smaller, independent publishers by design.

Still not sure it's safe?

That's a reasonable thing to double-check yourself rather than take on faith. A few options:

• Scan it yourself. You're welcome to run the downloaded installer through your own antivirus, or a multi-engine scanner, before opening it.
• Check what it actually does. Hongguo Downloader installs per-user with no admin rights, runs entirely locally, and never asks for your 红果 account or password — see the full breakdown in Is Hongguo Downloader safe?
• Get it from the source, every time. Reputation warnings fade as more people download and run the same signed build over time — the fix on Microsoft's side isn't something a single user can speed up, but sticking to the official installer is what keeps you safe in the meantime.

Frequently asked questions