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Jeremy [KK7GWY] edited this page Oct 8, 2026 · 3 revisions

Windows

AetherSDR runs natively on 64-bit Windows, as an installer or as a portable ZIP. This page collects everything that is specific to Windows: installing, the features that differ from Linux and macOS, where your files live, and fixes for Windows-only problems. Everything else in this wiki applies to Windows as written.

Requirements

Package File Notes
Installer AetherSDR-*-Windows-x64-setup.exe Setup wizard with a Start Menu shortcut and an uninstaller
Portable AetherSDR-*-Windows-x64-portable.zip No install. Extract anywhere and run AetherSDR.exe.
  • Both packages carry the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime with the application. No Visual C++ Redistributable install is needed, and repairing or removing the system redistributable does not affect AetherSDR.
  • The panadapter renders with Direct3D 11.
  • For digital-mode programs, plan on the TCI Server: AetherSDR ships no DAX audio driver on Windows (see below).

Setup

Installing

  1. Download the installer or the portable ZIP from GitHub Releases.
  2. Run the installer, or extract the ZIP and run AetherSDR.exe.
  3. The Windows builds are GPG-signed but not Authenticode-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may warn the first time you run them. Verifying the signature confirms the download is genuine; see Installation and docs/VERIFYING-RELEASES.md.
  4. The Connect to Radio window opens. Continue with First Connection, or try Your First Session with no radio.

Both packages keep your settings in the same place, %LOCALAPPDATA%\AetherSDR\, so you can switch between them.

Connecting digital-mode programs

There is no built-in DAX audio driver on Windows. The DAX applet says so: "No built-in DAX driver on Windows. Use TCI, or SmartSDR DAX."

  • TCI carries audio and CAT over one connection and is the simplest route for WSJT-X. See TCI Server and WSJT-X Integration.
  • FlexRadio's own SmartSDR DAX also works with a FlexRadio.
  • CAT has no virtual serial ports on Windows. Point your program at one of the CAT applet's TCP ports instead. See CAT Control.

Using AetherSDR on Windows

What is different on Windows

  • Menus are behind the ☰ button at the left of the title bar. Alt+letter mnemonics (Alt+F, Alt+S, …) still open each menu. F11 toggles full screen. See Menu Reference.
  • Radio Setup is Settings → Radio Setup....
  • Window frame: a Qt-drawn frame with the system shadow and resize borders, with AetherSDR's own minimize, maximize and close buttons. Snap Layouts on hover over maximize does not appear yet.
  • GPU choice on hybrid laptops: the discrete GPU is used by default. The integrated GPU is listed in Display → SYSTEM → GPU: but greyed out ("disabled (#1921)"), because it crashes when a panadapter is popped out or docked. See GPU Rendering.
  • Noise reduction: BNR (NVIDIA Maxine, on an NVIDIA RTX/GeForce GPU) is available on Windows; its runtime comes as a single self-contained download. MNR is macOS only and is greyed out. See BNR GPU Noise Removal and DSP Noise Mitigation.
  • Copy Assist can use a Vulkan GPU (NVIDIA, AMD or Intel). See Copy Assist.
  • Credentials are kept in Windows Credential Manager, never in the settings database.
  • USB devices appear as COMn ports. A FlexControl knob that is unplugged and replugged may come back on a different COM port. The ThumbDV helper opens its port exclusively, so close any other program using it. See FlexControl Tuning Knob and D-STAR (ThumbDV).
  • Ulanzi Dial: Windows cannot give AetherSDR exclusive control of the dial, so each key press also reaches Windows (for example as a media key). See Ulanzi Dial.
  • Runtime Monitor: Windows does not report per-thread state, so the State column shows a dash. See Runtime Monitor.
  • Screen readers: NVDA, Narrator and JAWS. See Accessibility.

Reference

Where files live

What Location
Settings database (AetherSDR.db), backups, quarantine %LOCALAPPDATA%\AetherSDR\
Application logs and support bundles %LOCALAPPDATA%\AetherSDR\logs\ (newest log also linked as an aethersdr.log shortcut)
NR2 FFTW wisdom %APPDATA%\AetherSDR\aethersdr_fftw_wisdom
BNR NVIDIA runtime %LOCALAPPDATA%\AetherSDR\AetherSDR\nvidia-afx\current\
Crash dumps (once enabled, below) %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps\
SmartSDR firmware files, after installing SmartSDR C:\ProgramData\FlexRadio Systems\SmartSDR\Updates\ (see Firmware Update)

See Settings and Backups and Support and Logging.

Environment variables

Set these in System Properties → Environment Variables, or in a Command Prompt before starting AetherSDR.exe from the same window.

Variable Effect
AETHER_NO_GPU=1 or QT_OPENGL=software Software OpenGL for every panadapter, instead of Direct3D 11
AETHER_SETTINGS_DIR=<folder> Use a different configuration folder

Known issues

  • On Windows 10 with Frameless Window on, click-to-tune, the panadapter right-click menu and the ☰ menu flash and close at once; turning off View → Frameless Window (Ctrl+Shift+F) avoids it (#6272).
  • On Windows 10 a thin white outline shows along the left, right and bottom window edges (#6266).
  • The BNR runtime download can stall with an empty .staging folder under nvidia-afx and leave BNR unavailable (#4132).
  • The RC-28 encoder can take several seconds to change frequency; unticking Use a Ulanzi Dial when detected has cured it for some users (#6225).
  • A Ulanzi D100H paired over Bluetooth can stay "Disconnected" in the mapper (#3485).
  • Popping out a panadapter has crashed AetherSDR with an older AMD Radeon HD 7000 series graphics card (#5990).

Troubleshooting

Windows SmartScreen warns about AetherSDR

The Windows builds are GPG-signed but not Authenticode-signed, so SmartScreen does not recognise the publisher.

  1. Verify the download's GPG signature, following docs/VERIFYING-RELEASES.md.
  2. If the signature is good, run AetherSDR anyway from the SmartScreen prompt.

WSJT-X or another digital-mode program gets no audio

There is no DAX audio driver on Windows.

  1. Connect the program through the TCI Server, which carries audio as well as CAT. See WSJT-X Integration.
  2. Or, with a FlexRadio, use FlexRadio's SmartSDR DAX.

A logging or digital-mode program cannot find AetherSDR's serial port

Windows has no CAT virtual serial ports.

  1. In the CAT applet, enable a port with the Rigctld, TS-2000 or Flex dialect.
  2. Point the program at that TCP port on this computer. See CAT Control.

The panadapter draws wrongly or shows "Spectrum renderer unavailable"

The Direct3D 11 renderer failed or your driver draws incorrectly.

  1. Set AETHER_NO_GPU=1 (or QT_OPENGL=software) and start AetherSDR again to use software OpenGL.
  2. Help → About AetherSDR shows which renderer is in use. See GPU Rendering.

A USB knob, encoder or Stream Deck+ does nothing

HID encoders are off by default.

  1. Open Settings → Radio Setup... → Serial & Controllers.
  2. Turn on Enable HID encoders / StreamDeck+ (RC-28, PowerMate, ShuttleXpress, …).
  3. Unplug the device and plug it back in. See USB Control Surfaces.

Reporting a crash

Windows keeps a crash dump only if local dumps are switched on.

  1. In an administrator PowerShell, run:

    $k = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\AetherSDR.exe'
New-Item -Force $k | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Force $k -Name DumpType -PropertyType DWord -Value 1 | Out-Null

  2. After the next crash, attach AetherSDR.exe.<pid>.dmp from %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps\ to your report from Help → File an Issue..., and say whether you ran the installer or the portable ZIP.

See Troubleshooting and docs/debugging-crashes.md.

See also

The documentation has moved

docs.aethersdr.com

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