Windows SmartScreen warns about the installer

You see

You run the Beam Bench setup .exe you just downloaded, and a blue dialog appears:

Windows protected your PC

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.

What is happening

SmartScreen rates installers largely by reputation: how many machines have already run this exact file. Beam Bench installers are signed, but Beam Bench is a new app, and every fresh release starts that count near zero, so Windows shows this notice until enough installs build up. It is a caution about being new, not a malware detection.

The dialog exists to protect you, so two rules before you continue:

• Only download Beam Bench from beambench.com.
• If you got the installer anywhere else, delete it and download a fresh copy first.

Fix

1. In the Windows protected your PC dialog, click More info.
2. Check that the file shown is the Beam Bench setup file you just downloaded.
3. Click Run anyway.
4. Setup continues like any normal installer.

Verify it worked

• Beam Bench installs and appears in the Start menu.
• Launching the installed app does not show the dialog again.

Still stuck?

• No Run anyway button? Some work or school PCs are managed so SmartScreen blocks without an override. The setting lives under Windows Security → App & browser control → Reputation-based protection, or ask whoever administers the machine.
• Post in the Facebook group with a screenshot of the dialog.