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.

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.

"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.