diff --git a/MANUAL.md b/MANUAL.md
index cdc251f..f91f967 100644
--- a/MANUAL.md
+++ b/MANUAL.md
@@ -940,13 +940,12 @@ A short countdown picks _Install now_ automatically if you don't choose anything
### What happens during an install
-RemSound can't replace its own program file while it's running, so an install starts a small helper that finishes the job once RemSound has closed:
+RemSound can't replace its own program file while it's running, so it hands the job to a fresh copy of the new version, which does the swap once RemSound has closed:
- 1. RemSound downloads the new version into a holding folder next to the running program.
- 2. It writes a tiny helper alongside it that watches for RemSound to close.
- 3. RemSound closes.
- 4. The helper notices, copies the new files over the install folder, deletes the holding folder, and reopens RemSound on the same profile you were running.
- 5. The helper deletes itself.
+ 1. RemSound downloads the new version into a temporary folder kept on your own machine, away from the install folder.
+ 2. It starts the new copy from that temporary folder, and closes itself.
+ 3. The new copy waits for RemSound to close fully, then moves your old program files aside and copies the new ones into place. If a file is briefly in use, it waits and retries rather than giving up.
+ 4. It reopens RemSound on the same profile you were running, and clears the temporary folder away.
@@ -962,11 +961,11 @@ If the profile that was running can't be found after the update (you'd renamed o
### If an install fails
-The update download is best-effort: a flaky network, a locked install folder, or a temporarily-unavailable version will pop up a message saying it couldn't finish, and leave your running version untouched. The address of the download page is in that message, so you can get the new version in a browser and install it by hand if you need to. If you installed RemSound into `Program Files` without giving your account permission to write to that folder, the install helper's copy step will fail too — either fix the permission or move RemSound to a folder you can write to (somewhere inside your own user folder, for instance).
+The update download is best-effort: a flaky network, or a temporarily-unavailable version, will pop up a message saying it couldn't finish, and leave your running version untouched. The address of the download page is in that message, so you can get the new version in a browser and install it by hand if you need to. If you installed RemSound into `Program Files` without giving your account permission to write to that folder, the install can't replace the files there — either fix the permission or move RemSound to a folder you can write to (somewhere inside your own user folder, for instance).
-**If the helper's copy step itself fails** — most often because Dropbox or another sync app was holding the install folder's files open when the helper tried to replace them — the helper leaves a file called `update-failed.txt` next to the RemSound program, with details, and leaves the new files sitting in an `_update` subfolder. It does _not_ reopen the old version in that case — so the next time you start RemSound by hand, you'll either get the still-old version with that note telling you what to do, or you can copy the contents of the `_update` folder over the install folder yourself. The most reliable fix is: close RemSound, wait 30 seconds for Dropbox to settle, start it again, and try **Help → Check for updates** once more — it almost always works on the second try.
+**If the file swap itself can't finish** — for example because a sync app or another program was holding one of the files open and wouldn't let go — RemSound _puts your previous version back exactly as it was_ and reopens it, rather than leaving you with a half-finished install. It writes a short note called `update-failed.txt` next to the program explaining what happened. Nothing is broken — just try **Help → Check for updates** again, and it almost always goes through on the next attempt. If a sync app like Dropbox is involved, closing RemSound and giving it half a minute to settle before retrying helps.
-A step-by-step record of every helper run is kept in a helper log file in the install folder — useful if a failure keeps happening and you want to share it for diagnosis.
+A step-by-step record of every update is kept in a file called `updater.log` in the install folder — useful if a failure keeps happening and you want to share it for diagnosis.
### The About dialog and release notes
diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 806b3fe..495b741 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -1,45 +1,39 @@
-# RemSound v3.5
+# RemSound v3.6
-A reliability-and-tidiness release: sound cards recover on their own if you unplug them, the audio cushion now sizes itself to each card, everything you own lives in one neat folder that updates can't touch, and a stack of under-the-hood fixes from a top-to-bottom code review.
+A reliability release centred on updating. RemSound now installs its own updates instead of handing the job to a Windows script — so updates that used to quietly fail on some machines go through, and a failed update can never leave you half-installed.
-## Recover a sound card you unplug
+## Updating is far more reliable
-If a USB sound card you're listening through is unplugged and plugged back in, **RemSound now re-opens it automatically and the sound resumes** — you don't have to re-tick it. (This works when the card comes back as the same Windows device, which is the usual case when you plug it into the same socket.)
+RemSound used to finish an update by handing the file-swap to a small Windows batch script. On some machines that step would silently fail — you'd "update" and still be on the old version, sometimes with nothing on screen to say why.
-## The audio cushion sizes itself to each card
+**RemSound now installs updates itself, in its own code:**
-RemSound keeps a small cushion at the sound card to smooth over the tiny timing difference between two machines' sound clocks. It now **sizes that cushion to each card automatically** — a card that moves sound in bigger chunks gets a little more room, a fast interface stays tight — so there's nothing to fiddle with. It just settles on the right amount.
+- It runs the install from a fresh copy of the new version in a temporary folder, so nothing in the program folder is locked while the swap happens.
+- It waits for the old copy to fully close, then moves the old files aside and copies the new ones in — **retrying** if a file is briefly held open (by a sync app, say) rather than giving up.
+- **If anything goes wrong, it puts your previous version back exactly as it was** and reopens it. A failed update can never leave a broken, half-installed RemSound.
+- Every step is written to a plain `updater.log` next to the program, so if a problem ever does recur there's a real reason to read, not a blank.
-## A microphone-privacy heads-up
+Your settings, profiles, logs and cue sounds are never touched by any of this.
-Windows can silently block apps from using your microphone, and when it does, a mic sends silence rather than failing — easy to miss. RemSound now **warns you** when you switch on a mic Windows is blocking (including when a profile loads with one already on), and points you at the exact two Windows settings to turn on.
+## More warnings come to the front
-## Warnings always come to the front
-
-Even when RemSound is minimised to the system tray, an important warning — the "your files have moved" notice, a microphone warning, an update prompt — now **pops up in front with focus**, so your screen reader reads it straight away. RemSound stays in the tray; only the warning comes forward.
-
-## One tidy folder for everything
-
-Everything this machine keeps for you — your settings, profiles, logs, and cue sounds — now lives together in one folder inside RemSound called **user settings and logs**. It moves there automatically the first time you run v3.5, and RemSound tells you once. Nothing is lost. **From now on, updates never touch that folder** — so any custom cue sounds you put there survive updates.
-
-## Smaller things
-
-- **Volume and mute** now come back correctly when you load a profile.
-- A round of reliability fixes from a full code review: two resource leaks closed, profile and settings saves are now crash-safe, and a good clear-out of dead code.
+Every important notice now surfaces in front with focus, even when RemSound is minimised to the tray. v3.6 adds the last two that didn't: the **"RemSound is already running"** dialog (and its follow-up message), and the **what's-new note shown after an update** that installed while RemSound was tucked away.
## Compatibility
-**v3.5 talks to v3.3 and v3.4 with no trouble** — the over-the-network format hasn't changed, so you don't have to update both ends at once. (You still need everyone on **v3.3 or newer**, because that's where end-to-end encryption came in.)
+**v3.6 talks to v3.3, v3.4 and v3.5 with no trouble** — the over-the-network format hasn't changed, so you don't have to update both ends at once. (Everyone still needs to be on **v3.3 or newer**, because that's where end-to-end encryption came in.)
## Install
-1. Download `RemSound-v3.5.zip` from this release.
+1. Download `RemSound-v3.6.zip` from this release.
2. Close RemSound.
-3. Extract the zip **over your existing RemSound folder**, overwriting program files when prompted. The zip is program files only — it won't touch your profiles, settings, recordings, or sounds.
-4. Run `RemSound.exe`. The first launch tidies your files into the new folder and tells you once.
+3. Extract the zip **over your existing RemSound folder**, overwriting program files when prompted. The zip is program files only — it won't touch your settings, profiles, logs, recordings, or sounds.
+4. Run `RemSound.exe`.
## Upgrading
-**From v1.9 onward:** Help → Check for updates works — it will fetch and install v3.5 automatically. If you've ticked "Check for updates on startup" and "Silently install updates", v3.5 installs itself shortly after launch.
+**From v1.9 onward:** Help → Check for updates works — it will fetch and install v3.6 automatically, and if you've ticked "Check for updates on startup" and "Silently install updates" it installs itself shortly after launch.
-**v1.8 and earlier:** the auto-updater in those versions has a fault that prevents it installing updates, so Check for updates will download v3.5 but not apply it. Install v3.5 by hand using the steps above — just this once. From the build you install onward, updates are automatic.
+Note that the hop *to* v3.6 still uses your current version's updater. The new, more reliable in-app installer only takes over **once you're on v3.6**. So on the rare machine where auto-update has been failing — exactly the problem this release fixes — download `RemSound-v3.6.zip` and extract it over your folder by hand, just this once. Every update after that uses the new installer.
+
+**v1.8 and earlier:** the auto-updater in those versions has a fault that prevents it installing updates at all — install v3.6 by hand using the steps above.
diff --git a/readme.html b/readme.html
index 814737a..943cd4c 100644
--- a/readme.html
+++ b/readme.html
@@ -1001,14 +1001,13 @@ Use whatever key combinations you prefer (for example Ctrl+Shift+Up / Ctrl+Shift
What happens during an install
-
RemSound can't replace its own program file while it's running, so an install starts a small helper that finishes the job once RemSound has closed:
+
RemSound can't replace its own program file while it's running, so it hands the job to a fresh copy of the new version, which does the swap once RemSound has closed:
-
RemSound downloads the new version into a holding folder next to the running program.
-
It writes a tiny helper alongside it that watches for RemSound to close.
-
RemSound closes.
-
The helper notices, copies the new files over the install folder, deletes the holding folder, and reopens RemSound on the same profile you were running.
-
The helper deletes itself.
+
RemSound downloads the new version into a temporary folder kept on your own machine, away from the install folder.
+
It starts the new copy from that temporary folder, and closes itself.
+
The new copy waits for RemSound to close fully, then moves your old program files aside and copies the new ones into place. If a file is briefly in use, it waits and retries rather than giving up.
+
It reopens RemSound on the same profile you were running, and clears the temporary folder away.
You'll see the window close, then reopen on the new version within a second or two. Anything that was unsaved in the old session (a profile you were partway through editing, for example) is lost — RemSound will not save it for you before installing. Save first if you've been making changes.
@@ -1023,11 +1022,11 @@ Use whatever key combinations you prefer (for example Ctrl+Shift+Up / Ctrl+Shift
If an install fails
-
The update download is best-effort: a flaky network, a locked install folder, or a temporarily-unavailable version will pop up a message saying it couldn't finish, and leave your running version untouched. The address of the download page is in that message, so you can get the new version in a browser and install it by hand if you need to. If you installed RemSound into Program Files without giving your account permission to write to that folder, the install helper's copy step will fail too — either fix the permission or move RemSound to a folder you can write to (somewhere inside your own user folder, for instance).
+
The update download is best-effort: a flaky network, or a temporarily-unavailable version, will pop up a message saying it couldn't finish, and leave your running version untouched. The address of the download page is in that message, so you can get the new version in a browser and install it by hand if you need to. If you installed RemSound into Program Files without giving your account permission to write to that folder, the install can't replace the files there — either fix the permission or move RemSound to a folder you can write to (somewhere inside your own user folder, for instance).
-
If the helper's copy step itself fails — most often because Dropbox or another sync app was holding the install folder's files open when the helper tried to replace them — the helper leaves a file called update-failed.txt next to the RemSound program, with details, and leaves the new files sitting in an _update subfolder. It does not reopen the old version in that case — so the next time you start RemSound by hand, you'll either get the still-old version with that note telling you what to do, or you can copy the contents of the _update folder over the install folder yourself. The most reliable fix is: close RemSound, wait 30 seconds for Dropbox to settle, start it again, and try Help → Check for updates once more — it almost always works on the second try.
+
If the file swap itself can't finish — for example because a sync app or another program was holding one of the files open and wouldn't let go — RemSound puts your previous version back exactly as it was and reopens it, rather than leaving you with a half-finished install. It writes a short note called update-failed.txt next to the program explaining what happened. Nothing is broken — just try Help → Check for updates again, and it almost always goes through on the next attempt. If a sync app like Dropbox is involved, closing RemSound and giving it half a minute to settle before retrying helps.
-
A step-by-step record of every helper run is kept in a helper log file in the install folder — useful if a failure keeps happening and you want to share it for diagnosis.
+
A step-by-step record of every update is kept in a file called updater.log in the install folder — useful if a failure keeps happening and you want to share it for diagnosis.
The About dialog and release notes
diff --git a/src/RemSound.App/AboutDialog.cs b/src/RemSound.App/AboutDialog.cs
index 47b6df6..4a70d17 100644
--- a/src/RemSound.App/AboutDialog.cs
+++ b/src/RemSound.App/AboutDialog.cs
@@ -20,6 +20,20 @@ internal sealed class AboutDialog : Form
/// updates" path.
private const string ReleaseNotes =
"""
+ RemSound v3.6
+
+ Updating is far more reliable. RemSound now installs its
+ own updates, step by step, instead of handing off to a
+ Windows script that could quietly fail. If an update can't
+ finish for any reason, RemSound puts your previous version
+ back exactly as it was and tells you — so a failed update
+ can never leave you stuck or half-installed. Your settings,
+ profiles, logs and sounds are never touched.
+
+ A couple more notices now come to the front too: the
+ "RemSound is already running" message, and the notes shown
+ after an update when RemSound was tucked away in the tray.
+
RemSound v3.5
Recover a sound card you unplug: if a USB sound card
diff --git a/src/RemSound.App/ForegroundDialog.cs b/src/RemSound.App/ForegroundDialog.cs
index 2f1fd4d..4bcc6b4 100644
--- a/src/RemSound.App/ForegroundDialog.cs
+++ b/src/RemSound.App/ForegroundDialog.cs
@@ -39,13 +39,23 @@ internal static class ForegroundDialog
Show