Straight answers.

The installer is signed by Winterforge Ltd., but Windows SmartScreen can still ask about a new release it hasn't seen many times. Click More info and check that the publisher says WINTERFORGE LTD. If it says anything else, don't run it. I'll walk you through it the first time.

It runs on Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. We run it on our own PCs, including Windows 10 Home. Older and low-end PCs aren't fully tested, so the first step of any job is trying it on yours.

No. Windows only for now.

It can. Second copy, an optional part, keeps a copy of your business's files on a drive you own: a USB drive, an external disk, or a shared folder on a second PC. It's made every night and checked every week, and earlier versions of changed files are kept. Nothing goes over the internet, and there's no account. The files on the drive are ordinary files anyone holding it can open, so keep it somewhere safe, and swap two drives so one is always away from the office.

The first conversation is about your business, not your data. When the job starts, I put Winterforge on a folder you choose, on your own machine, and you drive. The software never sends your files to us. If a job would send samples of your files to a cloud AI, you'll know first and can say no.

Yes. Tick Keep Winterforge offline when you install it, or switch on Offline only later in Settings, then Version. From the very first start it never connects to the internet by itself: no update check, no law-edition check, no downloads, no cloud AI. Check for updates still works when you press it, after it tells you what it will send. Your office PCs stop talking to each other too, unless you also allow the local network.

The Alberta OHS law edition comes as a file signed by Winterforge, on the Winterforge USB stick and as a separate download beside the installer. Settings, then Version, then Apply a law edition from a file installs it with no internet. A file without the signature, or signed by anyone else, is refused and nothing changes. Turning off the law check, or choosing Offline only, asks you to type "I am turning off a safety feature" and confirm it's you. It goes in a Safety history with who, which PC and when, and Winterforge asks again every 30 days. If the law on that PC has never been checked, you check once or accept a waiver, and a red NOT CHECKED notice stays on the Safety page until it is.

They're still yours and still readable. Every filed document has a plain-text record you can open in Notepad, and the search index can be rebuilt from those records. Uninstalling keeps everything by default.

No. The filing rules and the search work with no AI at all. The Companion is an optional add-on: a local model on your PC, or your own cloud account. AI can be wrong. Check anything that matters against the file itself.

Yes. Scanner PDFs with a text layer are searchable as they are, and pages with no text are read on your own computer by the optional text-recognition part. It doesn't read handwriting.

No. It helps you organize and find records, and prove what you have. It doesn't make you compliant with anything, and it doesn't give legal, safety or tax advice. We are not your lawyer, your auditor, your regulator, or your IT department.

A number in writing before any work starts. Small jobs stay small. There's no public price list because there's no standard job: the number depends on what you bring and what shape your files are in, and that's most of what the first conversation is for. The first customers in any line get founding pricing, in writing.

Not from a public page yet. I install it with you the first time. After that, updates come through the app itself, signed and checked before they install. That's what EARLY ACCESS means here.

Fort McMurray, Alberta. I work in person across Wood Buffalo, and I can come to your shop.