Memory Recall

Installing on your Windows computer — version 0.2.4

Memory Recall turns your recordings into searchable transcripts and summaries. Everything runs on this computer. Your audio is never uploaded anywhere.

This is the install guide. If you already have Memory Recall installed and this folder is a newer version, stop here and open Memory Recall update guide.html instead.

Before you start

If this folder also has before-you-start.html, read that first (a few minutes).

What you need

Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, on an Intel or AMD (64-bit) processor. At least 8 GB of memory (16 GB or more is best). About 27 GB of free disk space for a first install; a computer with more memory needs 32 GB or 40 GB.
Apple Silicon (M1 or later). Coming soon.

Time	About 45 minutes, most of it waiting on downloads
Disk space	27 GB, 32 GB, or 40 GB free, depending on this computer’s memory. The largest of those — 40 GB — is the number to plan for on a 32 GB-RAM machine with a large graphics card. A smaller machine uses a smaller model and needs 27 GB or 32 GB. The installer checks and will stop you if there is not enough.
Internet	Needed during setup only, to download the AI models (about 8 GB on Windows)

You can stop at any point. If setup is interrupted, running it again picks up where it stopped rather than starting over.

What is in this folder (four files)

MemoryRecall-Setup-0.2.4.exe — the installer. Double-click this one.
Memory Recall install guide.html — this page.
MemoryRecall-Setup-0.2.4.manifest.json — a record of exactly what this build contains.
SHA256.txt — a fingerprint, so you can check the file arrived intact.

The folder may also include before-you-start.html and Memory Recall update guide.html. Those are extras, not a second install path.

Installing

Open the folder and keep the four files together

You should have the installer, this guide, a file ending .manifest.json, and SHA256.txt.

Double-click `MemoryRecall-Setup-0.2.4.exe`

Windows will show a blue warning saying “Windows protected your PC”. This is expected. Click More info, then Run anyway.

Windows shows this for any program it has not seen many times before. It is a statement about paperwork, not about the program. It is not a virus warning.

Then a dark box titled User Account Control asks for permission to make changes. Click Yes.

Work through the setup screens

Most screens you can simply click Next. Three of them matter, and they are covered below.

The two screens that matter

1. “Where should your recordings live?”

Do not accept the folder it suggests if the path contains OneDrive.

Choose a folder that is on this computer only. The installer suggests C:\Users\YourName\Memory Recall. Keep it. Recordings are large, and a folder that syncs to the cloud will fill up your online storage and slow everything down. The database is kept in a separate folder that no sync app reaches.

This folder is kept when you uninstall, unless you choose Delete everything.

The next screen, “Where should audio backups live?”, matters too. Choose a folder on a second drive: a USB drive or a second disk that stays connected to this computer. Each night Memory Recall copies your recordings there, so a dead disk cannot take your only copy. A cloud-synced folder (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox) also works, but only when it is on a different drive from your recordings. If you have no second drive today, leave it empty and add one when you can.

2. “Connect an AI service (optional)”

Leave all four boxes empty and click Next, or press “Skip for now”. Empty means Memory Recall uses the AI that installs on this computer, which is what you want. You can add a service later in Settings if you ever wish to.

There is no Hugging Face token step. Telling one speaker from another needs no setup: the speaker models come with Memory Recall. A token is an optional setting you will probably never need. The links to make one (a free account, the four model licenses, the token page) are next to the token box: in Memory Recall click Settings, then Privacy & data, paste the token into the Hugging Face token box and click Check my access.

While it installs

After the last screen, setup downloads and configures everything. This is the long part — around 8 GB of AI models. The window will look busy and sometimes still. Leave it alone and let it finish.

When it is done, a Memory Recall shortcut appears on your desktop. Double-click it and the app opens in your web browser at http://localhost:3001/.

The first time it opens

It will ask you to create a local passphrase (at least 10 characters). Type it twice and click Create passphrase: it signs you in straight away. That passphrase never leaves this computer. There is no email reset — write it down somewhere you will find it.

The screens after that — the terms, Connect your services (Google Calendar and Plaud) and the license — are walked through one by one in the guide Installing fresh on Windows, steps 25 to 33.

Had Memory Recall on this computer before? Then it asks you to sign in with your old passphrase instead of creating one. If you do not remember it, click I forgot my passphrase, leave the Reset code box empty, and click Reset passphrase. Your recordings are not deleted.

If something goes wrong

Setup writes down exactly what happened. If it stops, it shows you a message naming a file:

C:\Program Files\Memory Recall\bootstrap-setup.log

Nothing is lost. Everything already downloaded stays downloaded. You can run the installer again and it continues from where it stopped.

If it stops a third time in the same place, email that log file to support@memoryrecall.ai rather than trying to work around it. It says precisely which step failed.

Worth knowing

Your audio never leaves this computer. Transcription and summarizing happen here, using the models installed during setup.
A newer version comes as a new folder like this one. Close Memory Recall, then follow Memory Recall update guide.html. Your recordings stay.
Uninstalling removes the database — transcripts, summaries, speaker names and voiceprints — after saving a final backup of it in the Backups folder inside your recordings folder. Your original audio files, anything you have filed or exported, and your backup sets are kept.
Processing runs when you sign in to Windows and then every 15 minutes: each time it works through anything waiting, and stops. It does not download from Plaud — Memory Recall does that while it is open.
A license key cannot be made in advance. Memory Recall works fully for 30 days without one. After install, Settings shows a machine code. Email that to support@memoryrecall.ai; we send a key that only works on this computer. It is two-way: the code first, the key second.

Checking the file is genuine (optional)

If you want to confirm the installer arrived intact, open Windows PowerShell and paste this, changing the folder if you saved it elsewhere:

Get-FileHash "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\MemoryRecall-Setup-0.2.4.exe" -Algorithm SHA256

The result should match the line inside SHA256.txt. If it does not, download the folder again rather than running it.