This file is included in the Windows binary package. Compile instructions for Linux and Windows can be found in RELEASE_NOTES. This package is officially avalable only from: https://github.com/JayDDee/cpuminer-opt No other sources should be trusted. cpuminer is a console program that is executed from a DOS or Powershell prompt. There is no GUI and no mouse support. Miner programs are often flagged as malware by antivirus programs. This is a false positive, they are flagged simply because they are cryptocurrency miners. The source code is open for anyone to inspect. If you don't trust the software, don't use it. Choose the exe that best matches you CPU's features or use trial and error to find the fastest one that works. Pay attention to the features listed at cpuminer startup to ensure you are mining at optimum speed using the best available features. Architecture names and compile options used are only provided for mainstream desktop CPUs. Budget CPUs like Pentium and Celeron are often missing some features. Check your CPU. Support for AMD CPUs older than Ryzen is incomplete and without specific recommendations. Find the best fit. CPUs older than Piledriver, including Athlon x2 and Phenom II x4, are not supported by cpuminer-opt due to an incompatible implementation of SSE2 on these CPUs. More information for Intel and AMD CPU architectures and their features can be found on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_CPU_microarchitectures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_CPU_microarchitectures File name Architecture name cpuminer-sse2.exe Core2, Nehalem, generic x86_64 with SSE2 cpuminer-aes-sse42.exe Westmere cpuminer-avx.exe Sandybridge, Ivybridge cpuminer-avx2.exe Haswell, Skylake, Kabylake, Coffeelake, Cometlake cpuminer-avx2-sha.exe AMD Zen1, Zen2 cpuminer-avx2-sha-vaes.exe Intel Alderlake*, AMD Zen3 cpuminer-avx512.exe Intel HEDT Skylake-X, Cascadelake cpuminer-avx512-sha-vaes.exe Icelake, Tigerlake, Rocketlake * Alderlake is a hybrid architecture. With the E-cores disabled it may be possible to enable AVX512 on the the P-cores and use the avx512-sha-vaes build. This is not officially supported by Intel at time of writing. Check for current information. Notes about included DLL files: Downloading DLL files from alternative sources presents an inherent security risk if their source is unknown. All DLL files included have been copied from the Ubuntu-20.04 installation or compiled by me from source code obtained from the author's official repository. The exact procedure is documented in the build instructions for Windows: https://github.com/JayDDee/cpuminer-opt/wiki/Compiling-from-source Some DLL filess may already be installed on the system by Windows or third party packages. They often will work and may be used instead of the included file. If you like this software feel free to donate: BTC: 12tdvfF7KmAsihBXQXynT6E6th2c2pByTT