Symptoms
The installation of Windows updates fails on Windows-based computers, and you receive the following error message:
| Text of the error message | Screen shot of the error message |
|---|---|
| Windows Update Standalone Installer The update is not applicable to your computer. |
Cause
The most common reasons for this error are described in the following table:
| Cause number | Cause | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Update is superseded | As updates for a component are released, the updated component will supersede an older component that is already on the system. When this occurs, the previous update is marked as superseded. If the update that you're trying to install already has a newer version of the payload on your system, you may encounter this error message. |
| 2 | Update is already installed | If the update that you're trying to install was previously installed, for example, by another update that carried the same payload, you may encounter this error message. |
| 3 | Wrong update for architecture | Updates are published by CPU architecture. If the update that you're trying to install does not match the architecture for your CPU, you may encounter this error message. |
| 4 | Missing prerequisite update | Some updates require a prerequisite update before they can be applied to a system. If you are missing a prerequisite update, you may encounter this error message. For example, KB 2919355 must be installed on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 computers before many of the updates that were released after April 2014 can be installed. |
Resolution
The following methods may help you identify and address some of the most common scenarios in which an update is regarded as not applicable:
- Verify that the package that you're trying to install matches the Windows version that you are using. The Windows version information can be found in the "Applies To" section of the article for each update. For example, Windows Server 2012-only updates cannot be installed on Windows Server 2012 R2-based computers.
- Verify that the package that you are installing matches the processor architecture of the Windows version that you are using.
For example, an x86-based update cannot be installed on x64-based installations of Windows. - Check that the package that you are installing contains newer versions of the binaries. Or, check that the package is superseded by another new package.
- Verify that the package that you are trying to install was not previously installed.
- Check the related articles about the package in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) to make sure that you have the prerequisite updates installed. For example, if you encounter the error message on Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2, you may have to install the April 2014 update 2919355 as a prerequisite and one or more pre-requisite servicing updates (KB 2919442 and KB 3173424).
Note To determine if these prerequisite updates are installed, run the following PowerShell command:
get-hotfix KB3173424,KB2919355,KB2919442
If the updates are installed, the command will return the installed date in the "InstalledOn" section of the output.
More Information
If you encounter the error when you install Remote Server Administration Tools in Windows 7, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
2517239 Error message when installing RSAT: "This update is not applicable to your computer"