If Windows will not let you install or open the Ultimate Backup app and tells you the app is not from the Microsoft Store, your PC is running in S Mode. This article explains what that means and how to get the app running.
S Mode is a Windows security setting that only allows apps installed from the Microsoft Store to run. It is not a problem with your drive or with your backups. Any app that comes from somewhere else — including the copy of the app that is pre-installed on the drive itself — is blocked by Windows before it can start.
You have two ways forward: install the Microsoft Store version of the app, or switch your PC out of S Mode. Installing the Store version is the quicker of the two, and it leaves your PC's settings unchanged.
DOES THIS MATCH WHAT YOU ARE SEEING?
All of the following point to the same cause and have the same fix:
- A message from Windows saying that only apps from the Microsoft Store can be installed on your PC.
- The app installer will not run, or closes as soon as you open it.
- You open the app from the drive and Windows blocks it instead of starting it.
- Windows offers to take you to the Microsoft Store instead of installing what you clicked.
OPTION 1: INSTALL THE MICROSOFT STORE VERSION
The Ultimate Backup app is available free in the Microsoft Store, and the Store version runs normally in S Mode.
- Click this link to open the Ultimate Backup app page in the Microsoft Store.
- Click Get and wait for the app to install. The app is free.
- Click Open, or find Ultimate Backup in your Start menu.
- Plug in your Ultimate Backup and continue as normal.
For the full walkthrough, including what to expect the first time you open the app, see Install and Open the App.
OPTION 2: SWITCH YOUR PC OUT OF S MODE
Windows also lets you turn S Mode off, which allows apps from outside the Microsoft Store to run. This is a change to Windows itself rather than to the Ultimate Backup app, so it is handled entirely in your Windows settings and through the Microsoft Store. Microsoft provides the switch free of charge.
Important: switching out of S Mode is permanent. Once your PC is out of S Mode, it cannot be put back into it, so choose this option only if you also want to run other apps from outside the Microsoft Store. If all you need is your Ultimate Backup app, Option 1 above is the simpler choice.
For Microsoft's own step-by-step instructions, see Switching out of S mode in Windows.
WHAT HAPPENS TO MY BACKUPS?
Nothing. Your photos and files stay on the drive exactly where they are. The Store version of the app reads the same drive and picks up from your existing backups — there is no need to start over, and nothing is deleted.
You can leave the copy of the app that came on the drive where it is, or remove it. Either way, use the Store version from now on.
If the app still will not open after installing it from the Microsoft Store, please contact us and let us know the exact message you see on screen, and we will help you from there.