ES Install

MADRE on Windows, with a double click.

Download the installer, open it, and you’re done. No PowerShell and no commands: the installer sets everything up and puts MADRE in your Start menu. Here we tell you, with no fine print, every step and what it does inside.

Download for Windows

See the installer’s code on GitHub

MADRE-Instalador.exe · 259 KB · free, no account

In short

  • Download MADRE-Instalador.exe and open it with a double click.
  • Windows warns “Windows protected your PC” because the installer has no digital signature yet: More info › Run anyway.
  • If your antivirus flags it as a virus, it’s because of that same missing signature. What to do.
  • In a few minutes MADRE is in your Start menu and opens in your browser.
  • It asks for no passwords, doesn’t touch your Windows files and removes completely from Settings.

Step by step

Four steps, a few minutes.

  1. Download the installer

    Press Download for Windows. It’s a single 259 KB file, MADRE-Instalador.exe, and it lands in your Downloads folder. The rest downloads while it installs.

    If your browser says the file “isn’t commonly downloaded”, it’s for the same reason as step 2: it’s new and not signed yet. In Edge, press the three dots next to the file and then Keep. If it says it’s a virus, see what to do.

  2. Open it and get past the Windows notice

    Double-click it. You’ll see a blue window: “Windows protected your PC”. Press More info and then Run anyway.

    That notice doesn’t say anything is wrong with the file. Windows shows it for every new program that doesn’t have a digital signature yet. Below we explain why, and what we’re doing to remove it.

  3. Press “Install”

    If WSL is off, the installer turns it on. That’s the only time Windows asks for permission (the “Do you want to allow…?” window), and only the first time. If a restart is needed, it offers one; when you’re back, open «MADRE» on your desktop and the install finishes. Then it prepares MADRE’s Linux: a few minutes, without you typing anything.

  4. Open MADRE

    From the Start menu or the desktop. It opens in your Windows browser, with no terminal window. The welcome helps you connect your AIs.

How it works

What the installer does, and nothing else.

MADRE is made for Linux and macOS. Windows comes with its own Linux, WSL, free and made by Microsoft. The installer uses it like this:

  • Turns on WSL, if it’s off. It’s a Windows feature. Turning it on is the only step that asks for permission, once.

  • Creates a separate Linux, just for MADRE. It’s called “MADRE” and it’s an Ubuntu 24.04. It doesn’t touch your Windows files or your Ubuntu, if you have one, and it doesn’t ask you to create an account.

  • Installs Node.js and MADRE inside. It downloads about 400 MB from the official Ubuntu, Node.js and npm sites. You don’t type anything.

  • Keeps MADRE at hand. In the Start menu and on the desktop. MADRE runs in that Linux and you use it from your Windows browser.

Transparency

Why does Windows warn? Is it safe?

It’s normal to distrust a blue window that says “protected your PC”. So we tell you everything: why it shows up, what the installer does and how to check it yourself.

  • Its code is in the open. Every line of the installer is on GitHub, in installer/windows. Anyone can read what it does before opening it.

  • It asks for no passwords or data. No passwords, no email, no card. MADRE is free and you don’t need an account.

  • It doesn’t touch your files. Besides turning WSL on, it changes nothing in Windows. Everything it installs lives inside MADRE’s Linux.

  • It removes completely. From Settings › Apps. Before deleting MADRE’s Linux and what you saved there, it asks you.

Why the notice shows up. The filter that shows it is called SmartScreen, the same one Edge and Chrome use when you download. Windows trusts programs signed with a digital certificate right away; it’s bought from a certificate authority and renewed every year. MADRE is an independent project and its installer doesn’t have one yet. The notice is about that missing signature, not about what’s inside the file. We’re already getting the certificate: with it you’ll see our name instead of “Unknown publisher”, and the notice will fade as more people install it.

Check your file
Its SHA-256 fingerprint is 6fe29066b8064f75f263f37a1008e9420220ddd9ed9b8869af49065360320737. If yours matches, it’s exactly the one we published. To see it: in your Downloads folder, right-click › Open in Terminal and type Get-FileHash .\MADRE-Instalador.exe.
Check it on VirusTotal
VirusTotal runs a file through more than 70 antivirus engines at once. Look up our fingerprint there to see what each one says. Microsoft Defender does not flag it. If a smaller one does, it is because of the missing signature, not because of what the file does. If VirusTotal does not know it yet, you can upload it yourself.
Any doubts?
Write to us from Report before installing. We answer.

If your antivirus blocks it

Did your antivirus flag it as a virus?

It isn’t one. Antivirus programs, Windows’ own included, don’t trust new programs without a digital signature, and our installer doesn’t have one yet; the certificate is in progress. Since it also downloads and installs programs, like any installer, it sometimes gets flagged by mistake. That’s what’s called a false positive. Here’s how to check it and get it back.

  1. Check it’s ours

    In Downloads, right-click › Open in Terminal, and type Get-FileHash .\MADRE-Instalador.exe. You should get this fingerprint: 6fe29066b8064f75f263f37a1008e9420220ddd9ed9b8869af49065360320737.

    If you get a different one, don’t open it. Delete it and download it again, only from madre.run. And if the antivirus already took it, get it out first (step 2) and then check it.

  2. Get it out of quarantine

    Go to Windows Security › Virus & threat protection › Protection history. Find MADRE-Instalador.exe and under Actions pick Restore or Allow on device.

    Another antivirus works the same way: open its Quarantine and restore it.

  3. If the browser won’t let you download it

    In Edge: the three dots next to the file › Keep › Show more › Keep anyway. In Chrome: Ctrl + J and choose to keep it there.

  4. Open it

    Once checked, follow the steps above. If the blue window shows up: More info › Run anyway.

Don’t turn off your antivirus
There’s no need, and we’ll never ask you to. Just let this one file through, already checked.
File gone, or it says “can’t access”?
That was the antivirus, taking it to quarantine. It’s step 2.
It won’t let you open it at all?
That happens when your Windows 11 has Smart App Control on: it blocks anything unsigned. Don’t turn it off for us. Use the terminal route instead, which installs the same thing, until the certificate arrives.
Tell us
If it happened to you, tell us in Report which antivirus it was and what it called it. That way we can ask them to fix it.

Requirements

What your computer needs.

Windows
Windows 10 version 21H1 or newer (22H2, up to date, is best), or Windows 11, 64-bit. Not sure which one you have? Press Windows + R, type winver and press Enter.
Virtualization
Turned on in the BIOS/UEFI. Almost every computer comes with it on. If not, here’s how to turn it on.
Internet
To download about 400 MB the first time.

If it won’t start

Turn on virtualization.

The installer brings you here when Windows tells it virtualization is off. You turn it on once, in your computer’s BIOS/UEFI.

  1. Check whether it’s already on

    Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to Performance › CPU and look for Virtualization. If it says “Enabled”, it isn’t the BIOS: go on to Virtual Machine Platform.

  2. Enter the BIOS/UEFI

    Restart the computer and, as soon as it turns on, press your brand’s key several times. It’s usually F2, F10, Del or Esc.

    Also from Windows: in Settings search for Recovery, press Restart now next to Advanced startup, then Troubleshoot › Advanced options › UEFI Firmware Settings.

  3. Find the option and turn it on

    Every brand puts it somewhere different, often in a menu like “Advanced”, “CPU Configuration” or “Security”. It’s called Intel VT-x, Intel Virtualization Technology, SVM or AMD-V. Set it to “Enabled”.

    Can’t find it? Search for “enable virtualization” with your computer’s brand and model.

  4. Save and open the installer again

    Save the changes on the way out (usually with F10 or “Save & Exit”). When Windows is back on, open MADRE-Instalador.exe again.

If it asks to restart again

Update Windows.

If the installer asked you to restart, you did, and now it says an update is missing, restarting again won’t help: Windows lacks the WSL MADRE uses, the one from the Microsoft Store. It comes through Windows Update. The installer brings you here.

  1. Open Windows Update

    In Settings search for Windows Update and press Check for updates. Install everything pending, optional and quality updates included.

    Windows 10 needs KB5020030 or newer; an up-to-date Windows 10 22H2 already has it. If your Windows 10 is older than 21H1, Windows Update offers 22H2 for free.

  2. Restart

    When Windows Update is done, restart the computer.

  3. Open MADRE again

    Open MADRE on your desktop (or MADRE-Instalador.exe). It picks up where it stopped.

    If it brings you back here with Windows up to date, let me know from Report.

Virtualization is on

Turn on the Virtual Machine Platform.

With virtualization on, MADRE’s Linux also needs a Windows feature: the Virtual Machine Platform. The installer turns it on by itself, with your permission, and asks for a restart. If you already restarted and it brings you here, turn it on by hand.

  1. Open Windows features

    Press Windows + R, type optionalfeatures and press Enter. “Turn Windows features on or off” opens.

  2. Tick both

    Tick Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Subsystem for Linux. Press OK.

    If Windows asks for a password you don’t have, the account isn’t an administrator: whoever manages the computer has to do it.

  3. Restart and open MADRE again

    Restart when Windows asks. Then open MADRE on your desktop (or MADRE-Instalador.exe). It picks up where it stopped.

If the Linux isn’t created

When everything is on and it still fails.

If virtualization and WSL are on and MADRE’s Linux isn’t created, it’s almost always the download. The installer brings you here.

  1. Check the connection and the space

    The first time it downloads about 400 MB. Check you have internet and free space on drive C:. A work VPN or antivirus sometimes blocks the download.

  2. Open the installer again

    Open MADRE-Instalador.exe again. It picks up where it stopped.

  3. If it fails again, send me the error

    In the installer press Show details, copy the last lines and send them from Report. That shows exactly what Windows said.

Uninstall

If you want to remove it.

Where
In Settings › Apps › Installed apps (on Windows 10, Apps & features), find MADRE and press Uninstall.
What it deletes
It asks you before deleting MADRE’s Linux and whatever it has saved.
Prefer the terminal?

This is the manual route, the usual one: MADRE inside WSL2, in your own Ubuntu. Three steps.

  1. Install WSL2

    Open PowerShell as administrator, paste this and, when it finishes, restart the computer.

    wsl --install

  2. Open Ubuntu

    Find it in the Start menu. The first time it asks you for a Linux user name and password. Then install Node there, and zstd, which the AI on your computer (Ollama) needs to install:

    curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs zstd

  3. Open MADRE inside Ubuntu

    Paste this line in the Ubuntu window, not in PowerShell. MADRE opens in your Windows browser.

    npx @jossuealcala/madre

MADRE on Windows, no terminal.

Download for Windows

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