Install, update, and switch release channels

Archive Witness direct releases have two update channels:

• Stable receives versions that have completed release testing.
• Beta receives higher test versions before they move to Stable. When there is nothing newer to test, Beta and Stable provide the same version.

The channel controls application updates, not licensing. Beta and Stable use the same trial, paid, and contributor-license rules after the pre-production beta program ends.

Install with automatic updates

The Download / Beta page offers Install with updates for the current public release. To choose a channel directly, download and open its Windows App Installer descriptor:

• Beta updates
• Stable updates

A channel link becomes available when its first release is published. Windows records the selected .appinstaller file as the update source and checks it when Archive Witness starts, no more than once every 24 hours.

The standalone MSIX is a manual recovery download. Installing it directly does not establish or change the automatic-update channel.

Switch from Stable to Beta

Close or finish important Archive Witness work, then open the Beta update descriptor. If Beta has a higher version, Windows installs it as an update. If both channels currently have the same version, Windows keeps the installed application and records Beta as its update source.

Before installing a Beta that may change catalog storage, close Archive Witness and copy the complete %USERPROFILE%\Archive Witness Data folder to another location. That copy provides a straightforward path back to the earlier Stable data format.

Switch from Beta to Stable

Open the Stable update descriptor. If Stable has the same or a higher version, Windows can record Stable as the update source and install any applicable update.

Windows does not normally replace an installed package with a lower version. If Beta is newer than Stable, choose one of these paths:

1. Wait until Stable reaches or exceeds the installed Beta version, then open the Stable update descriptor.
2. Uninstall Archive Witness and install Stable. Uninstall leaves %USERPROFILE%\Archive Witness Data in place.

The second path rolls back the application but not its retained data. If the Beta upgraded the catalog schema, the older Stable version cannot use that upgraded data. Returning immediately then requires one of the following:

• replace %USERPROFILE%\Archive Witness Data with a complete copy made before installing the Beta;
• delete the retained data folder and start with a new catalog; or
• follow a version-specific manual data-rollback procedure supplied for that release.

Deleting the data folder removes Archive Witness catalogs, checksum evidence, settings, and job history. It does not delete the files in registered archives. Do not edit the catalog database directly unless a version-specific procedure tells you exactly how.

Confirm the result

Open Settings and check the displayed Archive Witness version. The application does not currently display its Windows update channel; the .appinstaller link most recently used to configure the installed package is the channel Windows checks unless organizational Windows policy overrides it.