The part Microsoft leaves out
Open Settings on any PC and you will find a VPN page. It asks for a server name and a sign-in type, and it understands IKEv2, SSTP and L2TP. A vless:// key means nothing to it. That is why all modern VPNs for windows install a program of their own. Valideo does not have one. You borrow a respected open source program, Hiddify or v2rayN, and feed it our key. Most offers labelled windows VPN software free give you a free download and a metered service. This is the other way round: the program costs nothing, ever, and the service is what you try for five days.
Six moves
Go to GitHub and find the releases page of hiddify or of 2dust/v2rayN. Take the 64 bit Windows package.
Unzip or install, then launch. Windows may show a blue SmartScreen box for a file it has not seen often. If the download came from that releases page, choose Run anyway.
In Telegram, start @valideo_bot and ask for the trial key.
Copy the long line that begins with vless://.
Hiddify: press New profile, then Add from clipboard. v2rayN: click inside the server list and press Ctrl+V.
Press connect. Then pick a mode, as explained next.
Two modes, and how to choose
Think of proxy mode as a sign on the door that says deliveries go through the side entrance. Polite programs read the sign: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, most desktop apps. Rude ones ignore it, and that includes many game launchers and anything run from a terminal. TUN mode does not put up a sign. It rebuilds the driveway so that every vehicle takes the same road. It needs an administrator to approve it once.
If all you wanted was one of those free browser VPNs, proxy mode gives you that result with no extension inside the browser. For everything else, use TUN.
When it does not connect
- Look at the clock in the taskbar first. If the date or the hour is off, fix it and try again.
- Try a second city before changing anything else.
- A game ignores the tunnel: you are in proxy mode. Switch to TUN.
- TUN refuses to start: close the client, right click it and choose Run as administrator.
- A security suite with web protection can fight the tunnel. Pause that feature to test.
- After a crash the internet seems dead: open Windows proxy settings and switch Use a proxy server off.
Where free VPNs for windows cut corners
- A monthly allowance measured in a few gigabytes.
- A server list that is mostly padlocks.
- Evening slowdowns that vanish the moment you pay.
- Bundled offers in the installer. A software VPN free windows package from a download portal is the usual culprit.
- Only classic protocols, which is why free VPNs windows users install so often fail on campus Wi-Fi.
Living with it
Set the client to launch at sign-in and to reconnect by itself, and you will forget it is there. v2rayN stores everything in its own folder, so a new PC is a copy and paste away. Hiddify keeps profiles in your user directory. Nothing in either place belongs to Valideo. When you want it gone, remove the program and make sure the proxy switch in Windows is off. The same key is already good for four more devices.
Q.Will the Windows VPN settings page accept the key?
A.No. That page handles IKEv2, SSTP and L2TP only.
Q.Hiddify or v2rayN?
A.Hiddify if you want one button. v2rayN if you like to see every setting.
Q.Why did Windows warn me about the download?
A.SmartScreen is cautious with files that few people have downloaded. Make sure it came from the project's GitHub releases and proceed.
Q.Do I have to be an administrator?
A.For TUN mode, once. Proxy mode does not need it.
Q.Do free VPNs for windows with no limits exist?
A.Not honest ones. Servers cost money. Our five days are uncapped, and then they end.
Q.Is there a build for ARM laptops?
A.Yes. Both projects publish ARM64 packages.