Antidrot First Launch: How to Save Your Master Key and What Happens Next

To install Antidrot, download the installer, copy it to a USB flash drive and run it on your child's computer — it configures everything itself. Right after installation the program shows an 8-character master key. Save it before you close the window: the program won't show it again, and without the master key you can neither give your child time nor close the program.

What to know before you start

Antidrot is a free program for Windows 10 (version 1703 or later) and Windows 11. It's set up by an installer: download it from the Download Antidrot page and run it from a USB flash drive — the program installs itself. It needs no internet connection or extra libraries.

It doesn't need administrator rights, with one exception: if a game or its launcher runs as administrator, Antidrot must be run as administrator too. Windows doesn't let a standard program manage the windows of programs with elevated rights. There's more on this, and on the different display modes, in Antidrot and fullscreen games.

Only one copy of the program runs at a time. If you start Antidrot again while it's already open, the second copy closes on its own straight away — nothing breaks and nothing doubles up.

Step 1. Run the installer from a flash drive

Download the installer from the Download Antidrot page and copy it to a USB flash drive. Plug the flash drive into your child's computer and run the installer. Windows will ask you to confirm — agree. In the installer, click “Install”: it sets everything up itself, and when it's done the program opens by itself. You don't need to choose a folder or move files by hand.

Step 2. Get past SmartScreen

When you run the installer, Windows may show a blue “Windows protected your PC” screen. This is how the SmartScreen filter greets unrecognized, little-known programs. It means Windows doesn't know the file yet; it is not a report that a virus was found.

To continue, click “More info”, then “Run anyway”. Only download the installer from our site — that way you can be sure you're running Antidrot and not something else using its name.

Step 3. Save your master key

Right after installation, the “Save your master key!” window appears. It contains a field with 8 characters — digits and the letters A to F, for example 84A3D371 (yours will be different, of course). The field is read-only: you can't change the characters, but you can select them with the mouse and copy them with Ctrl+C.

Save the key before you click “Close window”. After that the window won't appear again, and there's nowhere in the program to look the master key up.

Where to keep the master key

• A password manager on your phone or computer is the most convenient and reliable option.
• The Antidrot Telegram bot. When you first start it, the bot asks for your master key and then calculates access keys for you, so you won't have to type the master key every time. How the bot works is explained in The Antidrot Telegram bot.
• A piece of paper works too, but don't keep it by your child's computer: not under the keyboard, not on the monitor and not in the desk drawer next to it.

Don't leave the master key in a text file on the same computer, and don't post it in a shared family chat. Anyone who knows the master key can close the program and give themselves as much time as they like.

What happens next: the “Warning” window

When you click “Close window”, the program's main window appears, titled “Warning”. No time has been given yet, so the window stays on screen permanently and there's no countdown line in it. In the window you'll see:

• the text “To unlock this window, enter the master key or an access key made with the one-time code below.”;
• a 4-character one-time code in bold red;
• an input field and the “Unlock” button.

The window is small — no more than a quarter of the screen — and sits exactly in the center. You can't drag it away, Win+D doesn't hide it (it comes straight back), and Alt+F4 doesn't close the program until the master key has been entered. At the same time, the window doesn't take focus: if a game is open underneath, the keyboard and mouse still work in the game. Your child can pause, save and leave a match calmly.

On later launches the master key window won't appear — the program remembers it.

Step 4. Check that you wrote the master key down correctly

It's best to check right away, while everything is at hand:

1. Click the input field in the “Warning” window. The window gets focus, and you can type in the field.
2. Type the master key. Case doesn't matter: the program accepts lowercase letters just as it accepts uppercase.
3. Click “Unlock”. The field clears — this is intentional, so the key doesn't stay on screen.
4. If the key is correct, the “Close” button appears. It exits the program completely.

If the button doesn't appear, there's a mistake in your note. A master key contains only digits and the letters A–F, so a round character is always a zero, never the letter O. On paper, the most common mix-ups are B and 8, and D and 0.

You don't have to click “Close” after the check. To let your child play, give them an access key with the time you choose — how to make one is explained in Access key: how to give your child time.

What to do if you lose the master key

The master key can't be recovered: the “Save your master key!” window is shown only once, right after installation. So save it right away and keep it safe — ideally in the Antidrot Telegram bot or a password manager.

Antidrot is built around a family agreement, not surveillance and total bans. Rules you've discussed and agreed on together work better than any lock — more on that in A family screen time agreement.

Autostart and other limits of the program

There's no autostart to set up: after installation the program starts by itself every time the computer is turned on. A few more things worth knowing in advance:

• the total limit resets after a restart;
• the process can be ended from Task Manager;
• the window doesn't appear over the lock screen, a UAC prompt or the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen — that's the Windows secure desktop, and no ordinary program can draw on it.

On the other hand, Antidrot doesn't collect or send any data, doesn't take screenshots, doesn't read messages and doesn't install keyboard hooks. It reminds your child about time; it doesn't watch what they do.