Answers to the questions I get asked most

Yes, it can happen. Aurora and its installer are signed in my name, but Microsoft also looks at a file's reputation: how many people have installed it without trouble. A new version may therefore show a warning for the first few days.

When downloading, Edge may say the file “isn't commonly downloaded”: click the three dots “…”, then “Keep”. Edge then shows you the publisher, which should be Denis Desbiens: under the “Delete” arrow, choose “Keep anyway”.

When opening it, if Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, click “More info”: the publisher shown should be Denis Desbiens. If it is, “Run anyway” installs Aurora.

The step-by-step guide, with the real windows: Installation.

No. Aurora and its installer are signed in my name, and every new version goes through VirusTotal, which has it scanned by more than 70 antivirus engines: version 1.0.12 was flagged by none of the 71 (see the report).

If your antivirus blocks it anyway, it's a false alarm: write to me with its name and its message, and I'll report it to its maker.

To read the sensors: temperatures, voltages, fan speeds. Windows reserves them for programs that have those rights. If you say no, Aurora still opens, but without the drives, the fans or the processor temperatures.

Windows asks every time you open it, unless you tick “Start with Windows” (Settings, startup and updates panel): Aurora then starts by itself when you sign in, without asking, and waits hidden near the clock.

The small driver through which LibreHardwareMonitor, the open-source library that reads the sensors for Aurora, reaches the processor and motherboard: temperatures, clocks, power, fans, voltages. Without it, processor temperatures stay at “—” and the motherboard fans don't show up.

The installer adds it if it's missing: it downloads it from its author and checks its fingerprint before installing it.

Right-click the installer, Properties, “Digital Signatures” tab: the signer is Denis Desbiens. You can also compare its fingerprint with the one given under the download button.

Windows 10 (1809 or newer) or Windows 11, 64-bit; PCs with an ARM processor aren't supported. The installer adds .NET 10 and the PawnIO driver if needed: it can take a few minutes, with the bar frozen. That's normal.

Yes: the close button hides it near the clock, so it keeps watching (temperature alerts, overlay, readings). Click the small “^” arrow on the taskbar if you don't see its icon.

To really quit: right-click the icon, “Quit”. It then puts your usual power plan back and hands the fans back to your motherboard.

Not necessarily. Aurora only shows what your hardware reports, and never guesses: a value it can't read shows as “—”, or its line doesn't appear. Some motherboards say nothing about the BIOS battery or the 12 V rail, many laptops hide their fan speeds, and only fans that have spun at least once are shown.

If the processor temperature is missing, the Health tab tells you why (for example, administrator rights refused). And if a value is missing while another program can see it, write to me from Aurora and tick the box that attaches your hardware sheet: that's what lets me fix it.

Yes, on a desktop PC: X-ray tab, the panel about your PC, Edit, then the list of your fans. You'll recognize them by their speed; give each one a name (up to 18 characters), like “Front case”. That name replaces the old one everywhere in Aurora.

It tells you in plain words what it saw, whether it's something to keep an eye on or more serious, and what to do. Among other things, it watches:

• temperatures, and heat creeping up over the months (dust, thermal paste);
• a stopped fan or pump;
• drives: their wear, their health, too full or too hot;
• a weakening BIOS battery, and the 12 V rail sagging under load (if your motherboard measures them);
• what Windows logs silently: hardware errors, blue screens with their code, sudden shutdowns, graphics driver resets;
• Windows startup getting slower, a game slower than before, or one that froze;
• setup mistakes: a monitor plugged into the motherboard instead of the graphics card, a monitor below its refresh rate, a graphics card missing PCIe lanes.

It's the time machine. Every ten minutes, Aurora notes what changed on your PC: installed programs, drivers, services, startup programs, scheduled tasks, BIOS, Windows updates, memory speed, and the notes you add yourself. When a problem starts, you see what changed just before. Aurora keeps two years of history, and nothing leaves your PC.

Yes, both. At first it follows Windows' language (English if Windows isn't in French); to change it: Settings, Language & theme panel, Language.

Aurora recognizes games from the Steam, Epic, GOG, Xbox, EA and Ubisoft libraries on its own, plus the ones Windows knows (Game Bar). It needs administrator rights, and the box for measuring game FPS ticked (Games tab; it is by default).

If your game isn't recognized: Games tab, game detection panel, and the button that marks it as a game. A session shorter than 30 seconds isn't kept.

Alt + Shift + A shows or hides it, even mid-game; Alt + Shift + D switches to the next layout. The menu of the icon near the clock shows it too.

These shortcuts can be changed in the Games tab, game overlay panel, keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl + Shift + A / D, Ctrl + Shift + F9 / F10, or none. If another program already uses a combination, Aurora tells you.

Your game is probably in exclusive fullscreen: Windows lets nothing show on top of it (the FPS are still measured). Pick “Borderless” or “Windowed fullscreen” in the game's display options, or put the overlay on another screen.

Not during a game. I measured it before releasing 1.0.9, with a test game limited by the graphics card: the previous Aurora, left visible on another screen, took 5 to 7 frames per second from it; 1.0.9, which rests during a recognized game, took none. The tool that counts FPS (PresentMon) only runs during a game.

For the very best, hide the dashboard while you play and keep only the overlay.

Yes, with a free plugin you download separately: seven keys that show live the processor and graphics card temperatures, the hot spot, the loads, the RAM and the FPS of the game you're playing. You need Aurora 1.0.4 or newer, running, and the Stream Deck software 6.5 or newer. Everything is read on your own PC, with no Internet. See the plugin.

No. No account, no ads, no readings sent, nobody tracked. Aurora asks the Internet three things, and only three:

• once a day, the latest version number;
• your connection's speed test, when you click it;
• your message, when you write to support from Settings, with your hardware sheet only if you check the box (models, versions, sensors, and whether the FACEIT anti-cheat is installed, since it can block temperatures; never your name, address, games or other software).

The first can be turned off in Settings, startup and updates panel; the other two never go out on their own. All the details are on the Privacy page.

No. It only works on your home network, and it's off by default: tick the box that shares this PC on the home network to see your other PCs, follow your readings on your phone, or send files from one PC to another. Nothing goes through the Internet. Don't turn it on on a shared network (dorm, café, hotel).

No. It reads everything, and only changes what you tick, through Windows' official means. Before each change, Aurora writes down the original value: “Restore” brings it back in one click, “Restore everything” undoes it all, and uninstalling restores everything too. One exception: a monitor's refresh rate, a direct choice, as in Windows Settings.

It never touches Windows security: antivirus, firewall, account control, updates. A setting Windows protects (the padlock) opens the right Settings page instead.

It runs Microsoft's own tools, one at a time and only when you click:

• Check and repair Windows: DISM, then SFC, and tells you the result in plain words. It's not an optimization: it's a repair, to try before you think of resetting your PC.
• Check the drives: chkdsk /scan, without restarting.
• Temporary files older than 24 hours: to the Recycle Bin, after you confirm, so recoverable until you empty it; those a program is using stay put.
• Emptying the Recycle Bin asks for a second confirmation: it's the only action with no way back.

Aurora checks once a day for a new version. If there is one, a banner tells you, and Windows notifies you once. The button opens the download page: run the installer, it closes Aurora cleanly and replaces it. Your settings are kept, and “What's new” shows you what changed.

Nothing is downloaded or installed on its own from the Internet: you decide.

Windows Settings, Apps, Aurora, Uninstall. Uninstalling closes Aurora, puts back the Windows settings it had changed for you, and removes its automatic startup.

What stays on your PC, in case you reinstall it: your settings (%APPDATA%\Aurora) and its memory (C:\Program Files\Aurora\donnees); you can delete these two folders if you don't plan to come back. .NET 10 and PawnIO also stay, since other programs may use them: they're uninstalled separately, in Apps.

Not for now: Aurora is for Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.

A new look for all of Aurora, game overlay included: colours, fonts and drawings in the mood of a kind of game. It's optional: Aurora's five themes (Carbon, Neon, Ice, Light and Forge) stay free. A skin is never a program: Aurora only checks that it's signed, with no connection at all. See the skins.

In Aurora: Settings, Language & theme panel, “Install a skin…”, then pick the .auroraskin file you downloaded. Aurora changes its look right away. To go back to a free theme, click it: your skin stays installed and comes back in one click. You need Aurora 1.0.9 or newer.

Write to me within 30 days at contact@auroraapp.ca: I'll refund you in full, no questions asked (terms of sale).

Me, Denis, in Quebec. I've been building my own PCs for a long time, and I'm not a programmer: I created Aurora with the help of artificial intelligence (Claude, by Anthropic). My story is in the press kit.

Yes. No ads, no account, no data sold. What keeps it going is the optional skins and the coffees offered on Ko-fi: they help me keep it signed and up to date.

No. Aurora is free, but its code isn't published. So you can still trust it: every version is signed, every new version goes through VirusTotal, and what it does is spelled out in its licence. The open-source libraries it uses (LibreHardwareMonitor, PresentMon…) keep their own licences, installed with it.

The easiest way: in Aurora, Settings → Support → Write to support. Your message goes out with Aurora's version and language, and, if you tick the box, your hardware sheet: that's what helps me most. Leave your address if you'd like an answer.

You can also write to contact@auroraapp.ca. Say what you see and on what hardware; if Aurora crashed, attach the file %APPDATA%\Aurora\crash.log. If the problem comes and goes, start the recorder (Health tab, or the menu of the icon near the clock) while it happens, and send me the file it creates in Documents\Aurora\Enregistrements.

I'm on my own, in my spare time: I read everything, and I answer problems first. It can take a few days. When a bug is fixed, the new version announces itself in Aurora.

On its Facebook page, its YouTube channel and its TikTok account: news, screenshots, videos, and one more place to ask a question.