Installing updates via Windows Update can be problematic sometimes. Downloads may stall at a specific stage either due to problems with the Windows Update server or the Content Delivery Network (CDN) that hosts the update in your region. It could also be possible that the Windows Update or BITS Services configuration on the local computer is at fault.
In either case, tech support personnel might advise you to download the update offline via the Microsoft Update Catalog and install it.
The Microsoft Update Catalog provides updates, including drivers, that are for distribution across a network. Windows Update packages downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog can be used in single systems as well.
Windows Update packages can come in two formats. One is “Windows Update Standalone Package” format (.msu extension), and the other, a Cabinet file (.cab).
.MSU Files
Windows Update Standalone Installer (.msu file) contains the following items:
When you run a .msu file, the Windows Update Standalone Installer (wusa.exe) extracts the package contents to a folder and reads the Windows Update metadata to search for available updates for your computer.
Let’s say; your system has a more recent update already installed, or the update you’re trying to apply is for a different processor architecture (x86 vs. x64), WUSA would stall the installation process by throwing the error message The update is not applicable to your computer.
If WUSA determines the update applies to your system, it then launches the installation process using Windows Update Agent API.
Installing .MSU Update Package
To install an MSU file, all you need to do is double-click the file. However, if you need to use additional setup parameters, such as “/quiet” (for silent installation), refer Microsoft KB article Description of the Windows Update Standalone Installer in Windows.
.CAB Files
Cabinet Files (.CAB) are compressed archives that contain system files or drivers. Occasionally Windows Update packages come in CAB format which doesn’t have an installation engine, XML file or the metadata file. For example, the update package for Cumulative Update for Windows 10 KB3194496 came in .cab format instead of the usual .msu format.
Installing .CAB Updates
To apply the CAB update, you need to use DISM, which is short for Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool.
Open an elevated or Admin Command Prompt window, and type:
Example
Press ENTER. That applies the KB3194496 update.
If a Windows Update package came in both formats (.cab and .msu), as in the case of KB3197954, I would opt for the .msu version always.
Add Install option to the right-click menu for .CAB Files
You can also add the “Install” command for .CAB files right-click menu so that you don’t have to run the DISM command-line manually.
Copy the following lines to Notepad, save it with the .REG extension. Then double-click the file to apply the contents to the registry.
This adds the “Install” command to the right-click menu for .CAB files.
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Ramesh Srinivasan founded Winhelponline.com back in 2005. He is passionate about Microsoft technologies and has a vast experience in Windows — delivering support for Microsoft's consumer products. He has been a Microsoft MVP (2003-2012) who contributes to various Windows support forums.
A few days ago Microsoft released the Windows 8.1 Preview for testing. Unfortunately a lot of users have received the following error message while trying to install the preview:
This message (“The update is not applicable to your computer”) is caused because Microsoft has only released a US version of the preview (“en-us”). For many users, including myself, we installed Windows 8 with a different region selected (“en-gb” in my case). There are a few options that you have available:
Crimen ferpecto 2004 english subtitles. 1. Change your region to get Windows 8.1 Preview update to work
2. Install a clean copy of Windows 8.1 Preview
The second method has the disadvantage of causing you to lose all your programs. I already have Windows 8 installed on my laptop and didn’t want the hassle. I therefore set about installing the update through the Windows Store. It’s at this point that I received the error message, previously mentioned.
I looked for a solution online, but although a number of suggestions were made, no one seemed to be able to get around this issue. I was determined to find a solution and so I set about experimenting, and many hours later I have upgraded my Windows 8 laptop to Windows 8.1. A video of the process is shown below:
Warning: This is an advanced tutorial and I don’t take any responsibility for any damage caused. Microsoft clearly doesn’t want you to do this and you might run into problems in the future.
Change the Region
This seemed like the most obvious solution to try first. Search for “Region” in the start menu under settings and open the Region settings.
Select the the “Administrative” tab and “Change System Locale”. From the dropdown list, select “English (United States)”.
Manually Unpack the Update
Before the update is unpacked it checks that the language is set to “en-us”. To get around this you can manually unpack the update, this will bypass the checks. To make the following steps easier, I made a copy of the update file to a folder called “windows8-1” in the root of the C drive.
Next, open command prompt by searching “cmd” in the start menu, right hand click on the program, and select, “Run as an Administrator”.
Type in the following commands which will expand the update.
Note: Adapt the following commands based on the file location and processor architecture.
The next step is to install the update.
This will take a few minutes and then prompt your computer to restart.
When the computer restarts you should see a message to update to Windows 8.1.
Unfortunately for most people the update still doesn’t download.
Install United States Language Files
Although you might think that the United States language files are installed, a closer look reveals that this is not the case. In the start menu, search “Language”.
Double click on United States.
Click, “Install Language Files”, this took me over half an hour to install.
Once the install is complete, select the primary language as United States and log out.
Change the Registry Settings
The update still won’t install. This means that is only one possibility, the initial install language must be stored in the registry. After a lot of research I found what I was looking for:
Open the registry, by typing “regedit” into the start menu
Warning: It is always a good idea to backup the registry before making any changes.
The Update Is Not Applicable
Scroll down to the bottom and look at the Default and InstallLanguage values.
I found the following conversion:
0409 = en-us
0809 = en-gb
You need to change the InstallLanguage to 0409 so that Windows thinks that it was initially installed with en-us.
Restart the computer
If you now go to the Windows Store and try installing the update, it will get further but will now get stuck pending.
I’m not entirely sure why this happens, but there is an easy solution.
Type “Troubleshoot” into the start menu and select “Troubleshooting”.
Under system and security click “Fix problems with Windows Update”.
It will check for any problems and then ask whether it can run with Administrator settings. Confirm this and it will fix the problem.
Install Windows 8.1 Preview
Finally you can install Windows 8.1 Preview problem free. The update does take a long time and will cause your computer to restart multiple times.
Wow, that article took a long long time to write. I hope it helps you to use Windows 8.1. If you have any problems, leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to help.
I’d like to say thanks to Martin Hinshelwood for helping me get started finding the solution.
Any individual or website attempting to copy this article without including it as a source/link will be reported under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Hi,
as the subject says it all, here is I am trying to achieve but no success.
My current Windows
Windows 10 x64 Pro,
ver 1607
Windows Standalone Installer Not Working
A sword reforged step 3. OS build 14393.693
Thinking Windows 10 updates are cumulative so I chose the recent one from windows update history website which is
August 16, 2017—KB4034661 (OS Build 14393.1613)
But when I try to apply this update on my system it generates error
Windows Standalone installer
This update is not applicable to your computer
I downloaded the correct update version for Windows 10 x64 from windows catalog site:
Windows Standalone Installer Keeps Searching
Windows10.0-kb4034661-x64_f776ef2c5c18168cb0e7a1b2d69d7e785cd.msu
Am I missing any prerequisite to be installed first for this to be applied ?
On this system I have no internet connection and only way to keep windows updated is through offline standalone updates.
I noticed my current OS build is far behind the latest one
current: OS build 14393.693
latest as of now: OS Build 14393.1613
If all previous ones in the range are pre reqs of one another than what is the use of having 'cumulative' updating? Moreover in that case I would have to download all previous updates in the range on another system and apply each one by one? that doesn't make sense to me
Please suggest how to update my system to mentioned OS build level
regards
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