Update will not install

Windows blocks the installer instead of installing it

Two different things can happen here, and they need different answers.

A warning you can click past. The blue "Windows protected your PC" window comes from SmartScreen. Click More info, then Run anyway. This appears because strAImer is not signed with a publisher certificate yet, not because anything is wrong with the file.

A block with no way through. A window saying the app "has been blocked" with no "Run anyway" button comes from Smart App Control — a Windows 11 feature that only allows signed apps. It has no exception list at all, so none of these help:

• adding the folder to Microsoft Defender exclusions;
• downloading the installer again from the website by hand;
• running it as administrator.

To install strAImer you have to turn that feature off:

1. Install all pending Windows updates first — Start → Settings → Windows Update. On older versions of Windows this feature could only be turned off permanently.
2. Open Windows Security → App & browser control → Smart App Control settings.
3. Select Off — the page offers On, Evaluation and Off — then run the installer again.

You can switch it back on from the same page later, but strAImer will be blocked again while it is on — the two cannot run together until the app is signed.

Whether you see this at all depends on how Windows got onto the computer: the feature turns itself on where Windows 11 was installed from scratch, and stays off where the computer was upgraded from an earlier version. That is why the same installer runs on one machine and is blocked on another.

"Update check failed"

The message on the Updates page says which of these it was:

• Could not reach the update server — no internet, or straimer.com is down. Nothing else in the app is affected.
• The update manifest could not be read / has no valid version / is missing a field — the server answered with something unusable. This is on our side; a support request with the log helps.
• This update requires version X or newer first — the copy is too old to jump straight to the newest one. Install the named version first.

The badge in the sidebar only shows the reason in its tooltip, so open the Updates page to read it.

"Up to date" when a newer version seems to exist

Three ordinary explanations:

• The answer came from the 30-minute cache. Press Check now.
• The channel's version is not higher than the installed one. A copy that was on the beta channel and moved back to stable sees this until stable catches up.
• The update is for a module, not the app. The badge then reads "Module updates available" and the work is in the Modules block of the same page.

I switched the channel and nothing happened

That is the intended behaviour: the picker changes what the app offers, not what is installed. After switching, the page re-checks and shows either an update or an offer to install the older build — the install is still a separate button.

If the page still shows the old channel's version, press Check now: the answer may be coming from the 30-minute cache.

There is no channel picker

The picker only appears for accounts that have been given the tester role, and only while signed in. Without the role there is nothing to choose — the app is on stable, which is where everyone else is.

If the picker used to be there and is gone, check that the app is still signed in to the strAImer account: the choice lives on the account, so a signed-out copy has nothing to ask.

Modules stopped working after going back to stable

Modules declare which core they need. An older core does not provide it, so those modules do not start — the page names them before the install for exactly this reason. They are not damaged and nothing was lost: returning to the test channel brings them back as they were.

If a module is missing and it was not in that list, that is a different problem — see the article on modules that do not appear.

I pressed Update on a module and nothing happened

The row you press reports the work itself: its buttons go inactive and Updating… appears on it. If instead the press changes nothing at all and a few seconds later the row simply disappears, the module did update. It is an older app: builds before 0.19.0 drew that progress on the module's card in the catalog, which is not the screen you are looking at, so the press you made had nothing to show for it.

Updating the application puts the reporting back where the press was. Until then, count the disappearing row as the answer: it goes away because there is nothing left on it to update.

The YouTube bot wants a sign-in after the update

Nothing broke. A release that moves the app onto a newer browser engine leaves the bot sign-in window without its stored sign-in, because that store belongs to the engine and one engine does not read what another wrote. The same happens going the other way, and a rollback warns about it before installing.

The bot itself did not stop. Its access to YouTube is held by the application, not by that window, so timers, command replies and the AI agent keep writing. You only run into this on opening the window, usually to move the bot to another channel, and signing in there again is the whole of the fix. The guide "Updates" describes which releases do this.

The download fails

The installer is checked in three steps — size, checksum, then signature — and a file that fails any of them is discarded rather than installed. Messages like "Checksum does not match" or "The installer signature is invalid" mean the download was damaged or tampered with; try again, and if it repeats, that is worth reporting.

"strAImer could not start" after an update

Some updates change the database, and that work is done on the first start, before the main window opens. Meanwhile a small window reads Updating the database: "Please do not close strAImer. This happens once after an update." with Step N of M under it. Let it finish; with a long chat and donation history it takes longer.

If that work fails, an error window titled strAImer could not start appears instead of the app. Under the title it names the reason and adds "Your data has not been changed." The common reasons:

• "The database is in use by another program. Close it and start strAImer again." If you do not know which program holds it, restarting the computer releases the file.
• "Not enough disk space for a backup copy" with the megabytes needed and free. Before changing anything the app copies the database; free that much space and start again.
• "This database was made by a newer version of strAImer." It happens after installing an older installer by hand over a newer copy. Download the current installer from straimer.com and install it over the top.
• "The database update failed and was rolled back", "The database file is damaged", or a line saying strAImer "cannot continue on its own". Do not delete anything in the strAImer folder yourself: write to support from the website and attach the log. The guide "Help" says how to reach support while the app does not open.

Open the backup folder, when the window offers it, opens the copy of the database made just before the attempt. Keep it: it holds your data exactly as it was before the update.

"Failed to close strAImer" during install

The installer cannot replace files while any part of the app is still running. Close strAImer fully, check it is not in Task Manager, and run the installer again.

When the message names the hotkey helper, none of that is needed: the Update was not installed window offers Turn the helper off and update, and one press does both. That press is not only about this update — the guide "Updates" says what it leaves switched off and how to bring it back.