Publisher: Unknown - This app has been blocked for your protection.

Thanks Adam,

When I get to the properties window I see no checkbox.  It doesn't appear in any of the other tabs either.  What's next?

Hello my name is Adam and like you I am a MS Windows 10 user and an Independent Advisor. To bypass this warning please open "File Explorer" and navigate to the file in question. Right click on it and open its properties. Once in the properties there should be a checkbox in the bottom of the dialog to 'Unblock' please select this checkbox and click apply. Then attempt to re-run your software. This should fix your issue. Please let me know if it does not I will be more than happy to continue troubleshooting this with you.

The 'publisher' being referred to is the publisher of that software developer's security certificate. I'll explain - it's not really that complicated.

One of the ways you know that you can trust a program - because you can't actually see what it's doing to your computer, and you can't see the people who originally wrote the program and sent it to you - is because the program carries a 'passport' that provides proof of who wrote the program and sent it to you. This special passport is called a security certificate.

Security certificates are issued by organizations called certificate authorities. These are well-known organizations that the internet trusts to issue security certificates to individual software developers and website owners. Issuing a security certificate is known as 'publishing' the certificate, and the certificate authority is the 'publisher.'

Once published, a security certificate doesn't last forever. Like a passport, it has to be renewed after a certain amount of time has passed. A security certificate has to be renewed generally every year, failing which it expires. Once a security certificate expires, you can no longer trust the software.

All operating systems have databases of well-known and trusted publishers. The publisher of the certificate for your program is not on the list, so no operating system will accept software with a security certificate published by that publisher.

There are only two ways around this:

1- You have to add the publisher for your program to Windows' database of trusted publishers.

2- You have to find some way to manipulate Windows so that it will run your program even with an unrecognized publisher.

Neither is a safe way to operate a computer.

In reality, there are only two things that you should do:

1- Get an up-to-date version of the program, which will have a kosher security certificate.

2- Do not run the program!