diff --git a/linux/install.sh b/linux/install.sh
index 40e2f54..272f5ba 100644
--- a/linux/install.sh
+++ b/linux/install.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 set -e
 
-PHPVM_VERSION="1.12.0"
+PHPVM_VERSION="1.12.1"
 PHPVM_DIR="${PHPVM_DIR:-$HOME/.phpvm}"
 PHPVM_REPO="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devhardiyanto/phpvm/main"
 
diff --git a/linux/phpvm.sh b/linux/phpvm.sh
index 74d2508..3710472 100644
--- a/linux/phpvm.sh
+++ b/linux/phpvm.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #    phpvm use 8.3.0
 # ==============================================================================
 
-PHPVM_VERSION="1.12.0"
+PHPVM_VERSION="1.12.1"
 PHPVM_DIR="${PHPVM_DIR:-$HOME/.phpvm}"
 PHPVM_VERSIONS="$PHPVM_DIR/versions"
 PHPVM_CURRENT="$PHPVM_DIR/current"
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ PHPVM_CACHE="$PHPVM_DIR/cache"
 PHPVM_LOG="$PHPVM_DIR/build.log"
 PHPVM_UPDATE_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devhardiyanto/phpvm/main/version.txt"
 PHPVM_LAST_CHECK="$PHPVM_DIR/.last_update_check"
-PHPVM_CHECK_INTERVAL=86400  # 24 hours
+PHPVM_CHECK_INTERVAL=3600  # 1 hour
 
 # ── Colors ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # printf (not echo -e): the message is passed through %s so backslashes in the
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ _step() { printf '  \033[36m> %s\033[0m\n'       "$*"; }
 _warn() { printf '  \033[33m[warn] %s\033[0m\n'  "$*"; }
 _dim()  { printf '  \033[90m%s\033[0m\n'         "$*"; }
 
-# ── Update checker (once per day, via version.txt) ───────────────────────────
+# ── Update checker (hourly, via version.txt) ─────────────────────────────────
 _phpvm_check_update() {
     # Skip in CI or if explicitly disabled
     [[ -n "${CI:-}" || -n "${PHPVM_NO_UPDATE_CHECK:-}" ]] && return
 
-    # Only check once per day
+    # Only check once per interval
     if [[ -f "$PHPVM_LAST_CHECK" ]]; then
         local last_ts now elapsed
         # GNU stat (-c) on Linux, BSD stat (-f) on macOS.
diff --git a/tests/windows/Doctor.Tests.ps1 b/tests/windows/Doctor.Tests.ps1
index ab9e74f..7a228f2 100644
--- a/tests/windows/Doctor.Tests.ps1
+++ b/tests/windows/Doctor.Tests.ps1
@@ -28,4 +28,22 @@ Describe 'Invoke-Doctor' {
 
         $out | Should -Match 'Active PHP version: 8\.3\.0'
     }
+
+    Context 'Test-ExtDirMatch (ext_dir junction equivalence)' {
+        It 'Accepts the version-specific ext path' {
+            Test-ExtDirMatch "$VERSIONS_DIR\8.5.6\ext" '8.5.6' | Should -BeTrue
+        }
+        It 'Accepts the current\ext junction spelling' {
+            Test-ExtDirMatch "$CURRENT_LINK\ext" '8.5.6' | Should -BeTrue
+        }
+        It 'Ignores a trailing backslash' {
+            Test-ExtDirMatch "$VERSIONS_DIR\8.5.6\ext\" '8.5.6' | Should -BeTrue
+        }
+        It 'Rejects an unrelated extension_dir' {
+            Test-ExtDirMatch 'C:\xampp\php\ext' '8.5.6' | Should -BeFalse
+        }
+        It 'Rejects an empty extension_dir' {
+            Test-ExtDirMatch '' '8.5.6' | Should -BeFalse
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
index 32bd932..6f165bc 100644
--- a/version.txt
+++ b/version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.12.0
\ No newline at end of file
+1.12.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/windows/install.ps1 b/windows/install.ps1
index a27994b..c23cac9 100644
--- a/windows/install.ps1
+++ b/windows/install.ps1
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
-$PHPVM_VERSION = "1.12.0"
+$PHPVM_VERSION = "1.12.1"
 $PHPVM_DIR     = if ($env:PHPVM_DIR) { $env:PHPVM_DIR } else { "$env:USERPROFILE\.phpvm" }
 $PHPVM_BIN     = "$PHPVM_DIR\bin"
 
diff --git a/windows/phpvm.ps1 b/windows/phpvm.ps1
index 2233c5c..ffbc458 100644
--- a/windows/phpvm.ps1
+++ b/windows/phpvm.ps1
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
 # -- Constants -----------------------------------------------------------------
-$PHPVM_VERSION = "1.12.0"
+$PHPVM_VERSION = "1.12.1"
 $PHPVM_DIR     = if ($env:PHPVM_DIR) { $env:PHPVM_DIR } else { "$env:USERPROFILE\.phpvm" }
 $VERSIONS_DIR  = "$PHPVM_DIR\versions"
 $CURRENT_LINK  = "$PHPVM_DIR\current"
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ $PHPVM_BIN     = "$PHPVM_DIR\bin"
 $PHPVM_CACERT  = "$PHPVM_DIR\cacert.pem"
 $PHPVM_CACERT_URL = "https://curl.se/ca/cacert.pem"
 
-# -- Update checker (once per day, via version.txt) ---------------------------
+# -- Update checker (hourly, via version.txt) ---------------------------------
 $PHPVM_UPDATE_URL   = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devhardiyanto/phpvm/main/version.txt"
 $PHPVM_LAST_CHECK   = "$PHPVM_DIR\.last_update_check"
-$PHPVM_CHECK_INTERVAL = 86400  # 24 hours in seconds
+$PHPVM_CHECK_INTERVAL = 3600  # 1 hour in seconds
 
 function Check-PHPVMUpdate {
     if ($env:CI -or $env:PHPVM_NO_UPDATE_CHECK) { return }
@@ -1593,6 +1593,17 @@ function Invoke-Cacert ([string]$sub) {
 
 
 # Read-only health check. Never mutates state - every finding points at the
+# True when the ini's extension_dir points at the active version's ext folder.
+# `current` is a junction to versions\<cur>, so the versions\<cur>\ext and
+# current\ext spellings name the same directory - accept either rather than
+# string-comparing and false-flagging a valid setup.
+function Test-ExtDirMatch ([string]$iniExtDir, [string]$cur) {
+    if (-not $iniExtDir) { return $false }
+    $acceptable = @("$VERSIONS_DIR\$cur\ext", "$CURRENT_LINK\ext") |
+        ForEach-Object { $_.TrimEnd('\') }
+    return ($acceptable -icontains $iniExtDir.TrimEnd('\'))
+}
+
 # command that fixes it. Exit-code-neutral: it's a report, not a gate.
 function Invoke-Doctor {
     Write-Host ""
@@ -1638,7 +1649,7 @@ function Invoke-Doctor {
             $info = Get-PHPBuildInfo
             if ($info.IniPath -and (Test-Path $info.IniPath)) {
                 $iniExtDir = Invoke-PHP $info.Exe "echo ini_get('extension_dir');"
-                if ($iniExtDir -and ($iniExtDir.TrimEnd('\') -ieq $info.ExtDir.TrimEnd('\'))) {
+                if (Test-ExtDirMatch $iniExtDir $cur) {
                     Doctor-Ok "extension_dir matches active build."
                 } else {
                     Doctor-Warn "extension_dir mismatch: '$iniExtDir' != '$($info.ExtDir)'"