Most people install BurstPick by running the installer and never think about it again. If you hit a snag, this page covers the handful of issues we have actually seen, with the fastest fix for each.

If none of this gets you running, send a note (with the log file described at the bottom) and we will sort it out quickly.

Windows: "Installation has failed — Failed to extract installer"

This message comes from the Windows installer as it unpacks itself, before BurstPick ever starts. It is almost always one of four things, and they are easy to rule out. Try these in order.

1. Re-download, and let it finish

The installer is a large file (around 800 MB). A download that was interrupted or is still finishing will fail to extract. Delete the file you have, download a fresh copy, and wait for it to complete before running it. Always download from the official releases page so you get an intact, signed file.

2. Clear leftover files from a previous attempt

A failed install can leave locked files behind that trip up the next attempt. Close BurstPick if it is open, then open PowerShell and paste this (it only removes BurstPick's own temporary folders):

Get-Process burstpick,BurstPick -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\SquirrelTemp","$env:LOCALAPPDATA\BurstPick","$env:LOCALAPPDATA\burstpick" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Then run the installer again. (Prefer not to use PowerShell? Open File Explorer, paste %LocalAppData% into the address bar, and delete the SquirrelTemp folder and any BurstPick folder.)

3. Pause antivirus during the install

Antivirus can lock or quarantine the installer's files while it unpacks them. If you use antivirus other than Windows Defender (for example McAfee, Norton, Avast, AVG, ESET, or Kaspersky), that is the one to pause for the install. Disabling Windows Defender alone does nothing if a third-party product is installed, because that product has already switched Defender off.

4. Check free disk space

Unpacking an 800 MB installer needs roughly 2 GB of free space on your C: drive. If C: is nearly full, the extraction fails. Free up some space and try again.

Still failing? Two reliable fallbacks

Point the installer at a clean folder. If your Windows account name has an accent or special character (for example José or Müller), or a leftover temp folder keeps getting in the way, you can tell the installer to unpack somewhere simple:

setx SQUIRREL_TEMP C:\sqtmp

Close and reopen PowerShell (so the setting takes effect), make sure C:\sqtmp exists, then run the installer again.

Use the portable version. Every release also ships a no-installer build that sidesteps this entirely. See the next section.

Windows: the portable (no-installer) version

If the installer will not cooperate, download the portable ZIP for your release instead. It is the same app, just without the installer.

Download BurstPick-win32-x64-<version>.zip from the releases page.
Right-click it and choose Extract All.
Extract it to a simple folder on your C: drive, for example C:\BurstPick. Do not run it from a USB stick, external drive, or network/OneDrive folder (see the next section for why).
Open the extracted folder and run burstpick.exe.

One trade-off: the portable version does not auto-update. When a new version comes out, download the new ZIP and replace the folder. If you want automatic updates, use the regular installer.

Windows: the app crashes on launch ("invalid access to memory location")

If BurstPick installs or extracts fine but crashes at startup with "An invalid access to the memory location occurred" (in Spanish, "Se realizó un acceso no válido a la ubicación de memoria"), work through these:

1. Re-extract or reinstall a fresh copy

The most common cause is an incomplete or damaged copy left by the first install or extraction. Delete your existing BurstPick folder, then install again — or, if you are using the portable ZIP, extract a fresh copy straight from the original download. A clean copy clears up most of these crashes.

2. Clear the graphics cache

A corrupted graphics cache from an unclean shutdown can stop the app from starting. This does not delete your sessions or settings. In PowerShell:

Get-Process burstpick -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\burstpick\GPUCache","$env:APPDATA\burstpick\Code Cache","$env:APPDATA\burstpick\Cache","$env:APPDATA\burstpick\DawnGraphiteCache","$env:APPDATA\burstpick\DawnWebGPUCache" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Then launch again.

3. If you run it from a removable or network drive, move it to a local disk

Running BurstPick from a USB stick, an external/removable drive, or a network/OneDrive folder can cause this crash, because those can disconnect while the app is reading from them. A secondary internal drive is perfectly fine — only removable and network locations are a problem. If you are on one of those, copy the app to a normal internal disk and run it from there.

4. Start once with graphics acceleration off

If it still will not open, try launching it with the GPU disabled. If that works, the cause is your graphics driver, and updating it usually resolves it.

& "C:\BurstPick\burstpick.exe" --disable-gpu

(Adjust the path to wherever you put burstpick.exe.)

macOS: "BurstPick can't be opened because Apple cannot check it for malware"

On first launch from the DMG you may see a Gatekeeper warning. Right-click (or Control-click) the BurstPick app and choose Open, then confirm. You only need to do this once.

Verifying your download

Every release includes a SHA256SUMS.txt file listing the expected hash of each download. To check that your file arrived intact, in PowerShell:

Get-FileHash "<path to the file you downloaded>" -Algorithm SHA256

Compare the result against the matching line in SHA256SUMS.txt. If it does not match, the download was corrupted in transit (a VPN, proxy, or download manager can do this) and you should download it again, ideally on a different network.

Sending us a log

If you are still stuck, the fastest way to get help is to send the log file. It records what happened during startup and usually points straight at the cause.

Open File Explorer and paste %AppData%\burstpick into the address bar.
Send us main.log (and a logs folder if you see one), along with a short description of what you tried.

You can also use Help → Export Logs… inside the app if it opens far enough to reach the menu — it bundles the logs into a single ZIP you can attach.