Ilopad for Windows ships as a standard setup wizard (Ilopad-windows-setup.exe). Download it once, then follow the wizard below. It installs the server and the pen-tablet driver, adds an Ilopad Start Menu shortcut, and allows Ilopad through Windows Firewall. An optional silent install for advanced users is shown at the end.
Method 1: Setup wizard (recommended)
Point and click. Ilopad installs into your own user folder, so Setup does not need administrator rights. Windows asks for permission two times near the end: one time for the pen-tablet driver and one time for the firewall rule. It asks only on the first install. Later updates never ask.
Download the installer
This link always points at the newest release. Your browser saves Ilopad-windows-setup.exe in your Downloads folder:
Because Ilopad is new, Microsoft Edge holds the file back and says Ilopad-windows-setup.exe isn’t commonly downloaded.
Keep the download
In the Edge Downloads panel, point to the file and click More actions (…), then Keep. Edge asks you to make sure that you trust the file. Click the arrow next to Delete, then click Keep anyway. Firefox saves the file without this question.
Open it, then click “More info”
Open your Downloads folder in File Explorer and double-click Ilopad-windows-setup. Because it is a new app, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen blocks it with “Windows protected your PC”. Click More info.
Click “Run anyway”
SmartScreen expands to show the app name and publisher. Click Run anyway to continue.
Choose who it is for
Setup asks first. Choose Install for me only, which is the default: it puts Ilopad in your own user folder, where it can update itself later without asking for administrator rights. Install for all users puts it in C:\Program Files, and every update from then on needs an administrator.
Accept the licence
The setup wizard opens. It bundles the open-source VMulti pen-tablet driver (LGPL-3.0). Choose I accept the agreement and click Next.
Choose the install location
Ilopad installs into your user folder, at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Ilopad. That is what lets it update itself later without asking for administrator rights. Click Next to accept the default, or Browse… to change it.
Choose the Start Menu folder
Keep the default Ilopad Start Menu group and click Next.
Choose the optional gamepad driver
Setup asks which optional components you want. Install the gamepad driver (ViGEmBus) is only needed to use your iPhone or iPad as a game controller, so it starts unticked. Leave it clear and click Next, or tick it now. If you tick it, Windows asks for permission one more time, to install the gamepad driver. You can also add it later, from Ilopad, the first time you choose gamepad mode.
Install
Review the summary and click Install. Setup copies the files, installs the pen-tablet driver, and allows Ilopad through Windows Firewall.
Approve the two permission prompts
Setup itself needs no administrator, but two of the things it sets up do: the pen-tablet driver, and the Windows Firewall rule that lets your iPad reach this computer. User Account Control asks once for each. Both name Ilopad and show the verified publisher Tiny Bits Ltd. Click Yes to each. If you ticked the gamepad driver, a third prompt asks for it: click Yes to it too.
This is a first-install cost, not a recurring one. Ilopad checks whether the driver is already there and whether the firewall rule is already right before it asks for anything, so an update that changes neither raises no prompt at all.
Finish and launch
When it’s done, leave Launch Ilopad ticked and click Finish.
Ilopad opens
The Ilopad window opens. It shows this computer’s name under Server Name, with a green power button while the server is running. When you close the window, Ilopad keeps running in the system tray. To open the window again, click the arrow at the right-hand end of the taskbar, then the Ilopad icon.
Pair your iPhone
Click Add Device, give the device a name, then click Generate QR. Scan the code with the Ilopad app on your iPhone to connect.
Method 2: Silent install (advanced)
Deploying to several machines, or prefer the command line? The installer accepts Inno Setup’s silent switches, and installs per-user without administrator rights. Two parts still need them, the pen-tablet driver and the firewall rule, so it raises two prompts. Run the command from an elevated PowerShell to install with no prompt. Or add /SKIPDRIVERS to leave the drivers alone: then only the firewall prompt stays.
Run the installer silently
From the folder containing the download:
/CURRENTUSER is worth keeping even though it is the default: Inno Setup switches to an all-users install whenever the process that started it is already elevated, and an all-users copy cannot update itself without a prompt.Start Ilopad
A silent install does not start the app, so launch Ilopad from the Start menu. Its window opens: click Add Device to show a pairing code. The firewall rules were written during the install, so there is nothing to allow.
Uninstall
To remove Ilopad, with its settings and the permissions that it added, follow Uninstall on Windows.