Method 1: Installing the Appupdate.dll Library to the Windows System Directory 

1. The file you will download is a compressed file with the ".zip" extension. You cannot directly install the ".zip" file. Because of this, first, double-click this file and open the file. You will see the library named "Appupdate.dll" in the window that opens. Drag this library to the desktop with the left mouse button. This is the library you need.

   

2. Copy the "Appupdate.dll" library and paste it into the "C:\Windows\System32" directory.

   

3. If your system is 64 Bit, copy the "Appupdate.dll" library and paste it into "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" directory.

   NOTE! On 64 Bit systems, you must copy the dynamic link library to both the "sysWOW64" and "System32" directories. In other words, both directories need the "Appupdate.dll" library.

   

4. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

5. Let's copy the command below and paste it in the Command Line that comes up, then let's press Enter. This command deletes the Appupdate.dll library's problematic registry in the Windows Registry Editor (The library that we copied to the System32 directory does not perform any action with the library, it just deletes the registry in the Windows Registry Editor. The library that we pasted into the System32 directory will not be damaged).

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /u Appupdate.dll

   

6. If you are using a Windows version that has 64 Bit architecture, after running the above command, you need to run the command below. With this command, we will clean the problematic Appupdate.dll registry for 64 Bit (The cleaning process only involves the registries in Regedit. In other words, the dynamic link library you pasted into the SysWoW64 will not be damaged).

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /u Appupdate.dll

   

7. In order to cleanly recreate the dll library's registry that we deleted, copy the command below and paste it into the Command Line and hit Enter.

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /i Appupdate.dll

   

8. If you are using a Windows with 64 Bit architecture, after running the previous command, you need to run the command below. By running this command, we will have created a clean registry for the Appupdate.dll library (We deleted the damaged registry with the previous command).

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /i Appupdate.dll

   

9. If you did all the processes correctly, the missing dll file will have been installed. You may have made some mistakes when running the Command Line processes. Generally, these errors will not prevent the Appupdate.dll library from being installed. In other words, the installation will be completed, but it may give an error due to some incompatibility issues. You can try running the program that was giving you this dll file error after restarting your computer. If you are still getting the dll file error when running the program, please try the 2nd method.

Method 2: Copying The Appupdate.dll Library Into The Program Installation Directory 

1. In order to install the dynamic link library, you need to find the installation directory for the program that was giving you errors such as "Appupdate.dll is missing", "Appupdate.dll not found" or similar error messages. In order to do that, Right-click the program's shortcut and click the Properties item in the right-click menu that appears.

   

2. Click on the Open File Location button that is found in the Properties window that opens up and choose the folder where the application is installed.

   

3. Copy the Appupdate.dll library into the directory we opened.

   

4. The installation is complete. Run the program that is giving you the error. If the error is continuing, you may benefit from trying the 3rd Method as an alternative.

Method 3: Doing a Clean Reinstall of the Program That Is Giving the Appupdate.dll Error 

1. Open the Run window by pressing the "Windows" + "R" keys on your keyboard at the same time. Type in the command below into the Run window and push Enter to run it. This command will open the "Programs and Features" window.

   appwiz.cpl

   

2. The Programs and Features screen will come up. You can see all the programs installed on your computer in the list on this screen. Find the program giving you the dll error in the list and right-click it. Click the "Uninstall" item in the right-click menu that appears and begin the uninstall process.

   

3. A window will open up asking whether to confirm or deny the uninstall process for the program. Confirm the process and wait for the uninstall process to finish. Restart your computer after the program has been uninstalled from your computer.

   

4. After restarting your computer, reinstall the program that was giving the error.
5. You can fix the error you are expericing with this method. If the dll error is continuing in spite of the solution methods you are using, the source of the problem is the Windows operating system. In order to fix dll errors in Windows you will need to complete the 4th Method and the 5th Method in the list.

Method 4: Fixing the Appupdate.dll Issue by Using the Windows System File Checker (scf scannow) 

1. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

2. After typing the command below into the Command Line, push Enter.

   sfc /scannow

   

3. Depending on your computer's performance and the amount of errors on your system, this process can take some time. You can see the progress on the Command Line. Wait for this process to end. After the scan and repair processes are finished, try running the program giving you errors again.

Method 5: Fixing the Appupdate.dll Errors by Manually Updating Windows 

Some programs require updated dynamic link libraries from the operating system. If your operating system is not updated, this requirement is not met and you will receive dll errors. Because of this, updating your operating system may solve the dll errors you are experiencing.

Most of the time, operating systems are automatically updated. However, in some situations, the automatic updates may not work. For situations like this, you may need to check for updates manually.

For every Windows version, the process of manually checking for updates is different. Because of this, we prepared a special guide for each Windows version. You can get our guides to manually check for updates based on the Windows version you use through the links below.

Explanations on Updating Windows Manually 

1. Explanation on Updating Windows 10 Manually
2. Explanation on Updating Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 Manually
3. Explanation on Updating Windows 7 and Windows Vista Manually
4. Explanation on Updating Windows XP Manually