windows coming soon
Olympiads on Windows
The Windows build is being finished. Until it ships, sit your exams on the web at your olympiad's site or on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or Android device. Everything below describes the build as it will be, so you can see whether your machine is covered.
Requirements
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit (x64). There is no ARM build, and Windows 7 and 8.1 are not supported.
- A camera. The screen is recorded by the app itself, with nothing extra to install.
- No internet is needed to install — see WebView2 below — but the exam itself needs a stable connection.
Two installers
| File | For | Administrator? |
|---|---|---|
Olympiads_<version>_x64-setup.exe | your own laptop or PC | No. Installs under your own user profile and updates without asking. |
Olympiads_<version>_x64_en-US.msi | managed school machines, installed by IT | Yes, on install and on every update — the MSI installs for every user of the machine, so Windows asks for permission each time. |
If you can choose, take the setup .exe. If your school's IT department installs software for you, they will want the MSI.
WebView2 is inside
The app draws its screens with Microsoft's WebView2. Windows 11 already has it; Windows 10 does not always. Rather than fetch it during setup — which fails on a school network with a filtering proxy, on the day it matters — both installers carry the WebView2 installer inside them, about 130 MB. That is why the download is large, and why it installs on a machine with no internet at all. Updates do not carry it again.
SmartScreen
The installers are being code-signed. Until that is in place, Windows may warn that it does not recognise the publisher when you run one. Before you go on, compare the file's SHA-256 with the one on the download page:
Get-FileHash .\Olympiads_<version>_x64-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256
What the app needs
The first screen lists what an exam needs. On Windows there is no permission dialog for any of it, but one setting has to be right:
| Card | What it says |
|---|---|
| Camera | Windows has a switch that silently blocks desktop apps from the camera. If it is off the card says: Camera access is switched off for desktop apps on this computer, so Olympiads cannot record you. Turn it on in Settings, under Privacy & security, then Camera — both "Camera access" and "Let desktop apps access your camera" have to be on. This screen checks again by itself. |
| Screen Recording | Windows needs no permission to record the screen. |
| Notifications | Optional, and there is nothing to allow. Windows shows them unless you turn them off for Olympiads in Settings, under System, then Notifications. |
| During the exam | When your exam starts, Olympiads fills the screen, stays in front of every other window and cannot be closed or minimised until you hand in. Alt-Tab still works — this is not a change Windows lets an application make. If you need help during the exam, the Help button releases the window so you can reach your mail; your exam is held where you left it until you come back. |
Switching away with Alt-Tab is not blocked, but it is recorded. So is a Remote Desktop session, a virtual machine, a remote-control program or a virtual camera: the app notices them at the readiness check and reports them with the exam. Sit the exam on a real machine, at the keyboard.
Do this a day before your exam: install, open the app once, and make sure the camera card is not the one with a sentence under it.
Updates
The app checks for a new version shortly after it opens and about every six hours after that. When one is ready it downloads it in the background and shows a quiet strip: Update ready — install and reopen. Nothing is installed until you press it.
- Setup
.exe: Olympiads will close while the installer runs, then reopen. No prompt. - MSI: Windows will ask for permission, Olympiads will close while the installer runs, then reopen.
It will not update while an exam is open (Close your exam window first. Olympiads will not update itself while an exam is open.) or while a recording is still being sent. You can also check by hand in About.
What is still being built
Windows needs the same supervision as macOS — camera and screen recording — and the part of the app that lists cameras and screens on Windows is not finished. That, and the code signing, is what stands between the current build and a release. The download page will show the Windows build the moment it is ready; nothing needs to be done on your side.
Trouble?
- The camera card says "Camera access is switched off for desktop apps on this computer". Open Settings → Privacy & security → Camera and turn on both Camera access and Let desktop apps access your camera. The card re-checks by itself.
- The camera is found but the readiness check says "This source produced no video." Another program has the camera. Close Teams, Zoom, OBS or the Camera app and press Try again.
- Windows asked for an administrator when updating. You have the MSI. That is expected; only the setup
.exeupdates without asking. - Windows warned about an unknown publisher. The build is not code-signed yet. Check the SHA-256 against the download page before continuing.
- The readiness check will not continue and names a second display. Disconnect the second display to continue. This exam records one screen. Unplug the monitor or projector and the check carries on.