Windows blocks Scoreboard Connect
On some computers, Windows 11 refuses to start Scoreboard Connect and shows a message similar to "Smart App Control blocked an app that may be unsafe" — with no option to run the program anyway. This page explains why this happens and what you can do about it.
Why does Windows block the program?
Windows 11 includes a security feature called Smart App Control (SAC). It is active on computers where Windows 11 was newly installed (it is not active on computers upgraded from Windows 10), and it blocks all programs that are not digitally signed with a certificate, unless Microsoft's cloud service already recognises the program as safe.
Digitally signing a program requires a paid certificate subscription where the publisher's identity is verified by a certificate authority. Scoreboard Connect is free software, and is currently distributed unsigned. This means nothing is wrong with the program itself — Windows simply cannot verify who made it, so on computers with Smart App Control active it is blocked.
Is Scoreboard Connect safe?
Yes — as long as you downloaded it from this website (Download Scoreboard Connect). Never run a copy of Scoreboard Connect that you received from anywhere else, since we cannot vouch for what that copy contains.
How to disable Smart App Control
Important: Smart App Control can only be turned off, never back on. The only way to re-enable it is to reinstall Windows. If the computer is used for other things than running tournaments, consider whether this trade-off is acceptable to you — Smart App Control protects against genuinely malicious programs as well.
To turn off Smart App Control:
- Open the Windows Security app (press the Start button and type "Windows Security")
- Select App & browser control
- Select Smart App Control settings
- Select Off and confirm your choice
After this, Scoreboard Connect can be started normally.
"Windows protected your PC" — a different, milder warning
If you instead see a blue dialog titled "Windows protected your PC", that is Microsoft Defender SmartScreen — not Smart App Control. This warning can be bypassed without changing any settings:
- Click More info in the dialog
- Click Run anyway
Windows remembers your choice, so you normally only need to do this once per downloaded version.