Installation and updates

System requirements

  • 64-bit Windows: Zenom is a modern 64-bit application; 32-bit systems are not supported.
  • A USB port for the machine controller. Without a machine the program is fully usable in emulator mode — see Connecting the machine.

Installation

  • Zenom ships as an MSI installer designed for a per-machine install — for all users of the computer, into Program Files\Astrelli\Zenom; administrator rights are required to install. The update cycle on top of such an install is operator-confirmed; systematic verification of a clean from-scratch install is still in progress.
  • The demo is available on request via the contact page.
  • After installing, start the program and connect the machine — the Quick start walks you through the rest.

Updates

Zenom checks for new versions on its own and installs them only with the operator’s confirmation:

  • Automatic check — once after startup, silently in the background. No network is not an error: the program simply keeps working.
  • Manual check — Help → “Check for Updates…”: check status, the available version, and a download button with progress.
  • Installing — only via the explicit Restart and Install button: after confirmation the program restarts as the new version. The Later button postpones with no consequences; a downloaded update is never applied by itself on the next launch.
  • While marking is running or the red light is on, installing an update is blocked — stop the laser first.

Update security

  • Updates arrive only as full packages from the Astrelli feed. Every release is pinned by a cryptographically signed vendor policy: the program verifies the exact version, hash, and size of the package, so the package cannot be swapped even by someone controlling the server.
  • A rollback guard protects against old policies: once a policy epoch is accepted, it is remembered on the machine, and policies with an older number are rejected.
  • Any problem (no network, a broken signature) means a quiet refusal to update; the program itself is never blocked from working.

What survives an update

The license, settings, and presets are stored outside the program folder (%ProgramData% / %AppData%), which is replaced during an update. After the restart nothing needs to be reconfigured.

Limitations

  • A fully offline workstation simply receives no updates — no errors, no reminders; the program keeps working as usual.