diff --git a/scripts/install-autostart.ps1 b/scripts/install-autostart.ps1
index fcda8f6..28d9263 100644
--- a/scripts/install-autostart.ps1
+++ b/scripts/install-autostart.ps1
@@ -34,56 +34,106 @@ $UpdateTask = 'AutoFirmer Update'
 function Info($m) { Write-Host "  $m" }
 function Warn($m) { Write-Host "  ! $m" -ForegroundColor Yellow }
 
+<#
+    PM2 ships a PowerShell shim, and anything it writes to stderr becomes a
+    NativeCommandError. With $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop' that is terminating,
+    so a routine "process not found" from `pm2 delete` aborts the whole install.
+    Redirecting at the call site does not help: the error is raised inside
+    pm2.ps1, not here. Drop to Continue for the duration and judge the result by
+    $LASTEXITCODE instead.
+#>
+function Invoke-Native {
+    param([string]$Exe, [string[]]$Arguments)
+    $prev = $ErrorActionPreference
+    $ErrorActionPreference = 'Continue'
+    try {
+        & $Exe @Arguments 2>&1 | ForEach-Object { Write-Host "      $_" -ForegroundColor DarkGray }
+        return $LASTEXITCODE
+    } finally {
+        $ErrorActionPreference = $prev
+    }
+}
+
+function Invoke-Pm2 {
+    param([string[]]$Arguments, [switch]$Quiet)
+    $prev = $ErrorActionPreference
+    $ErrorActionPreference = 'Continue'
+    try {
+        $output = & pm2 @Arguments 2>&1
+        $code = $LASTEXITCODE
+        if (-not $Quiet -and $code -ne 0) {
+            $output | ForEach-Object { Write-Host "      $_" -ForegroundColor DarkGray }
+        }
+        return $code
+    } finally {
+        $ErrorActionPreference = $prev
+    }
+}
+
 Info "project root: $Root"
 
-# ── PM2 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# -- PM2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 if (-not (Get-Command pm2 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
     Info 'installing PM2 globally...'
-    npm install -g pm2
-    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw 'npm install -g pm2 failed' }
+    if ((Invoke-Native 'npm' @('install', '-g', 'pm2')) -ne 0) { throw 'npm install -g pm2 failed' }
     # A fresh global install is not on this session's PATH yet.
-    $npmPrefix = (npm prefix -g).Trim()
+    $prevEap = $ErrorActionPreference
+    $ErrorActionPreference = 'Continue'
+    $npmPrefix = (& npm prefix -g 2>$null | Select-Object -First 1)
+    $ErrorActionPreference = $prevEap
+    if ($npmPrefix) { $npmPrefix = $npmPrefix.Trim() }
     $env:PATH = "$npmPrefix;$env:PATH"
     if (-not (Get-Command pm2 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
-        throw "PM2 installed but not found on PATH. Open a new terminal and re-run."
+        throw 'PM2 installed but not found on PATH. Open a new terminal and re-run.'
     }
 }
 Info "pm2: $((Get-Command pm2).Source)"
 
 Push-Location $Root
 try {
-    # delete + recreate rather than reusing, so a changed path or interpreter
-    # actually takes effect
-    pm2 delete autofirmer 2>$null | Out-Null
-    pm2 start npm --name autofirmer -- start
-    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw 'pm2 start autofirmer failed' }
+    # Run Next directly rather than through `npm start`. On Windows `npm` is a
+    # .cmd shim, so PM2 would supervise the shim while the real server ran as
+    # its child - restarts and stops then miss the process that matters.
+    $nextBin = Join-Path $Root 'node_modules\next\dist\bin\next'
+    if (-not (Test-Path $nextBin)) { throw "next not found at $nextBin - run npm install first" }
+
+    Invoke-Pm2 @('delete', 'autofirmer') -Quiet | Out-Null   # absent is fine
+    if ((Invoke-Pm2 @('start', $nextBin, '--name', 'autofirmer', '--interpreter', 'node', '--', 'start')) -ne 0) {
+        throw 'pm2 start autofirmer failed'
+    }
     Info 'pm2: autofirmer registered'
 
     if (-not $SkipClicker) {
-        # pm2 --interpreter wants one executable, so resolve the real path
-        # rather than passing something like "py -3".
+        # --interpreter wants one executable, so resolve the real path rather
+        # than passing something like "py -3".
         $pyCmdFile = Join-Path $Root 'scripts\.python-cmd'
         $pyCmd = if (Test-Path $pyCmdFile) { (Get-Content $pyCmdFile -Raw).Trim() } else { 'python' }
         $pyExe = $null
-        try { $pyExe = (& ([scriptblock]::Create("$pyCmd -c `"import sys;print(sys.executable)`""))).Trim() } catch { }
+        $prevEap = $ErrorActionPreference
+        $ErrorActionPreference = 'Continue'
+        try {
+            $pyExe = (& ([scriptblock]::Create("$pyCmd -c `"import sys;print(sys.executable)`"")) 2>$null | Select-Object -First 1)
+        } catch { } finally { $ErrorActionPreference = $prevEap }
 
         if ($pyExe -and (Test-Path $pyExe)) {
-            pm2 delete clicker 2>$null | Out-Null
-            pm2 start (Join-Path $Root 'clicker\runner.py') --name clicker --interpreter $pyExe
-            if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) { Info "pm2: clicker registered ($pyExe)" }
-            else { Warn 'pm2 start clicker failed - the dashboard is unaffected' }
+            Invoke-Pm2 @('delete', 'clicker') -Quiet | Out-Null
+            if ((Invoke-Pm2 @('start', (Join-Path $Root 'clicker\runner.py'), '--name', 'clicker', '--interpreter', $pyExe)) -eq 0) {
+                Info "pm2: clicker registered ($pyExe)"
+            } else {
+                Warn 'pm2 start clicker failed - the dashboard is unaffected'
+            }
         } else {
             Warn 'python not found - skipping the clicker. Re-run setup once Python is installed.'
         }
     }
 
-    pm2 save | Out-Null
+    if ((Invoke-Pm2 @('save')) -ne 0) { throw 'pm2 save failed' }
     Info 'pm2: process list saved'
 } finally {
     Pop-Location
 }
 
-# ── Scheduled tasks ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# -- Scheduled tasks ---------------------------------------------------------
 # LogonType Interactive is what grants the desktop the clicker needs.
 $principal = New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal -UserId "$env:USERDOMAIN\$env:USERNAME" `
     -LogonType Interactive -RunLevel Limited