diff --git a/apps/desktop/scripts/download-ollama.ps1 b/apps/desktop/scripts/download-ollama.ps1
index ba0d007..2544665 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/scripts/download-ollama.ps1
+++ b/apps/desktop/scripts/download-ollama.ps1
@@ -23,11 +23,15 @@ if (Test-Path (Join-Path $DEST_DIR "ollama.exe")) {
 if (Test-Path $TEMP_ZIP) { Remove-Item -Force $TEMP_ZIP }
 
 Write-Host "Downloading: $OLLAMA_URL"
-try {
-    [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
-    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $OLLAMA_URL -OutFile $TEMP_ZIP -UseBasicParsing
-} catch {
-    Write-Host "Auto-download failed: $_" -ForegroundColor Red
+# curl.exe (Win10+ native) handles GitHub redirects, progress output, large files
+# better than Invoke-WebRequest. -L follow redirects, --fail error on HTTP >=400,
+# --retry 3, --max-time 1800 (30min), --progress-bar human readable.
+$curlExe = "$env:SystemRoot\System32\curl.exe"
+if (-not (Test-Path $curlExe)) { $curlExe = "curl.exe" }
+& $curlExe -L --fail --retry 3 --max-time 1800 --progress-bar `
+    -o $TEMP_ZIP $OLLAMA_URL
+if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
+    Write-Host "curl download failed with exit code $LASTEXITCODE" -ForegroundColor Red
     Write-Host ""
     Write-Host "=== Manual install ===" -ForegroundColor Yellow
     Write-Host "Download ollama-windows-amd64.zip from:"