Pinta 2.1 installation problem on Windows 10

[grofaty]

1. I have downloaded the latest Pinta 2.1 from Pinta official web page.
2. I double clicked on Pinta.exe installation file and warning appears (see attachment): "Windows protected your PC".
3. I clicked on button "Run anyway" and then error appears: "Windows cannot access the specified device,path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.

It is probably something with security settings on my company computer that is set more strictly then home PC may be.

It may be because there is "Unknown publisher" and Windows blocks installing such programs.

P.S. I usually install Pinta on my personal PC and then just copy/paste the "Pinta" directory to another computer. But today I don't have access to my personal PC, so I installed it directly on Company computer.

[grofaty (grofaty)]

I have search the web and now I have solved the problem:
1. In search box I have typed in "Windows Security".
2. In left pane: "Virus & thread protection".
3. Inside "Virus & thread protection settings" section I have clicked on "Manage settings".
4. Scroll down to "Exclusion" section I have clicked on "Add or remove exclusions".
5. I have clicked on "Add an exclusion".
6. I selected "Folder".
7. I have pointed to C:\Users\xxx\Downloads folder and I have clicked on "Select Folder" button.
8. Now I have double clicked the C:\Users\xxx\Downloads\Pinta.exe file and installation started normally and installation completed successfully and I can successfully start Pinta.
9. After the installation process I have manually removed the exclusion exception.

I was patient enough to try several solutions from suggested by several web sites, but maybe some of the users may not have enough knowledge or patience, so unable to install the software.

Suggestion:
Add above instructions to documentation web site:
https://www.pinta-project.com/user-guide/start/#install

and on https://www.pinta-project.com/releases/ add "Setup" link and point to this information.

Maybe mark this bug report as "Wishlist".

[Cameron White (cameronwhite91)]

I think the proper fix for this is to sign the installer, similar to what is done on macOS, which would avoid these prompts entirely. Normally the "Run Anyways" button does work with typical Windows settings for a home user, though

[Cameron White (cameronwhite91)]

I've been in contact with signpath.io which provides open source projects with the ability to sign apps for free, rather than paying hundreds of dollars per year
This may not happen before Pinta 2.2, though, so I'm removing it from the milestone