diff --git a/emulator/pod-launch/Options.cs b/emulator/pod-launch/Options.cs
index 034c0e6..aa23239 100644
--- a/emulator/pod-launch/Options.cs
+++ b/emulator/pod-launch/Options.cs
@@ -95,8 +95,18 @@ namespace VwePod
                 ?? throw new ArgumentException("dosbox-x.exe not found under root; pass --dosbox");
             o.DosBoxDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(o.DosBox);
 
-            o.Conf = confArg ?? FirstExisting(Path.Combine(o.Root, o.Mode.ConfBase + ".conf"))
-                ?? throw new ArgumentException(o.Mode.ConfBase + ".conf not found under root; pass --conf");
+            o.Conf = confArg ?? FirstExisting(Path.Combine(o.Root, o.Mode.ConfBase + ".conf"));
+            if (o.Conf == null)
+            {
+                // A .tmpl sitting there means the install was extracted but never
+                // configured -- point at the real fix, not at --conf.
+                bool unrendered = File.Exists(Path.Combine(o.Root, o.Mode.ConfBase + ".conf.tmpl"));
+                throw new ArgumentException(unrendered
+                    ? o.Mode.ConfBase + ".conf not rendered yet: this install hasn't been configured.\n" +
+                      "Run postinstall.bat (elevated) from the extracted zip root, or:\n" +
+                      "  powershell -File <install>\\deploy\\configure.ps1 -Root <install>"
+                    : o.Mode.ConfBase + ".conf not found under root; pass --conf");
+            }
 
             o.RendererExe = rendererArg ?? FirstExisting(
                 Path.Combine(o.Root, "renderer.exe"),