Safety

Check your NOVA download

Fake "game boosters" are a common way to spread malware, and some tell you to switch your antivirus off first. Here's how to make sure the NOVA you run came from us.

Current version

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File

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SHA-256

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VirusTotal

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1. Download it from novatuned.com only

NOVA's only download is on your account page, which your purchase email links to. Sign in with the email you bought with: we email you a code, no password needed. A copy of NOVA from anywhere else didn't come from us.

2. Compare the fingerprint

Open PowerShell in the folder you downloaded to (type powershell in File Explorer's address bar and press Enter) and run:

Get-FileHash .\NOVA.zip

The Hash it prints must match the SHA-256 above (letter case doesn't matter). If it doesn't, don't open it: delete it, download it again from your account, and tell us.

3. "Windows protected your PC"

NOVA isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen can show this warning for a new version it hasn't seen many times. Once the fingerprint matches, click More info, then Run anyway. If Smart App Control is on there's no Run anyway button; contact us and we'll sort it out. A code-signed release is on the way.

Updates check themselves

NOVA only installs an update whose details carry our release signature, and only if the downloaded file matches the fingerprint in those details. An update that fails either check isn't installed.

What NOVA never asks you to do

Turn off Microsoft Defender, SmartScreen or any antivirus.
Add NOVA, a folder or a drive to your antivirus exclusions.
Download and run a script, patch or "fix" from anywhere else.

None of NOVA's tweaks touch Defender or SmartScreen. If another tool switched part of Defender off, NOVA's Checkup says so and can put Windows' own setting back. Anything that claims to be NOVA and asks for one of these isn't NOVA.

More about what NOVA does

Every tweak and exactly what it changes · NOVA and anti-cheat · Myths we don't do