Troubleshooting Updates and Install

Troubleshooting Updates and Install

Fixes for installing, updating, starting and going back to an older version. None of these steps remove your clips or settings.

Windows SmartScreen asks me to confirm

Flashback's installer is signed by its verified publisher through Microsoft Artifact Signing, so Windows shows the verified publisher when you run it. Because the certificate is new, SmartScreen may still ask you to confirm for a while as download reputation builds.

Before you continue, make sure the file came from flashbk.gg or this repository's Releases, and if you want to be sure, check its signature and SHA-256 hash as shown on Verifying Downloads. Then choose More info and Run anyway.

An update won't install

On 0.7.39 or 0.7.40: "could not verify the official update information"

That's expected. Since 0.7.41, Flashback is signed through Microsoft's code signing service, and 0.7.40 and earlier only recognize the previous certificate. Nothing was changed on your PC. Choose Download installer (or open flashbk.gg/update-repair), quit Flashback from the tray, and run the current installer once over your install, choosing Update when setup asks. After that, updates install from inside the app again.

Check for updates downloads the same release again

1. Open the tray menu and choose Quit, so the buffer finishes its current file. Setup closes a Flashback that's still running without saving its buffer.
2. Download the current installer from flashbk.gg/update-repair.
3. Run it once. Setup says Flashback is already installed: choose Update, or Repair if you already have this version. It replaces the app files and reopens Flashback. Clips, settings, hotkeys, startup choices and Library details stay in place.

No uninstall, extraction, account or administrator access is needed.

Versions before 0.7.39

These versions check an old update address and may not offer current releases at all, and they can't install a Microsoft-signed release by themselves anyway. Install the current version once by hand from flashbk.gg/update-repair, the same way as above. (0.6.71 and 0.6.72 also have an apply-time bug that can reject a valid update, so don't keep pressing Check for updates on those.)

"The disk is full" or "check the PC's date and time"

Flashback tells you when an update can't continue for one of these reasons.

• Disk full: free some space on your Windows drive and try again. A verified partial download resumes where it left off, even after a restart.
• Date and time: updates are signed with time limits, so a PC clock that's far off fails the check. Turn on Set time automatically in Windows Settings > Time & language, then try again.

What a normal update looks like

Flashback checks once when you open its window, shows a quiet notice beside Check for updates, and never downloads without your click. It verifies the signed release information and the whole package before handing off, resumes interrupted downloads, and offers a signed installer repair if the normal handoff can't finish. Afterwards you get a "Flashback updated to version" notice in the tray. See Update security chain.

Flashback could not start

If Flashback fails to start, Windows shows a message titled "Flashback could not start".

• Yes opens the repair installer page. Run the current installer; it repairs the app in place and keeps your clips and settings.
• No opens the bug report form with your version filled in.

Two copies in Installed apps

Installs from before 0.6.58 lived in a different folder. On those PCs, running an installer by hand can add a second copy instead of replacing the first. Both share your settings and clips.

1. Quit Flashback from the tray.
2. Open Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps and uninstall the copy with the lower version.
3. Run the current installer once more, then open Flashback so it registers Launch after I sign in to Windows for the remaining copy.

Going back to an older version

Flashback releases only roll forward, and a problem in one release is fixed by a newer one. If you still need to go back from 0.8 to 0.7.41 or older, the older version can't read 0.8's settings file. The first time 0.8 opened, it kept a copy of your earlier settings for this.

1. In the Cloud tab, discard any paused upload. An older version would finish it as "Anyone with the link".
2. Quit Flashback from the tray.
3. Open %LOCALAPPDATA%\Flashback (paste it into the File Explorer address bar).
4. Rename settings.json to something else.
5. Rename settings.schema21.json to settings.json.
6. Install the older version. Setup asks whether to downgrade; confirm it.

Settings changed since the upgrade are lost; your clips aren't. An older version also drops a clip's local tags and its Cloud upload record the next time it renames that clip or checks its capture health.

Uninstalling

Uninstall from Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Your clips stay in Videos\Flashback, and settings stay in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Flashback, so a reinstall picks up where you left off. Delete those folders yourself if you want them gone.

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Related pages: Update security chain · Security · Troubleshooting