Microsoft KB Archive/944298

= Error message when you try to install an update for Visual Studio 2005, for Visual Studio .NET 2003, or for Visual Studio .NET 2002: &quot;The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable&quot; =

Article ID: 944298

Article Last Modified on 11/20/2007

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APPLIES TO

 Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Testers Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition</li> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Express Edition</li> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1, when used with: <ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Testers</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition</li></ul>

<ul> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Express Edition</li></ul> </li> Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Academic Edition</li> Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect</li> Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer</li> Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional Edition</li> Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Service Pack 1, when used with: <ul> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Academic Edition</li></ul>

<ul> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect</li></ul>

<ul> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer</li></ul>

<ul> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional Edition</li></ul> </li> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Service Pack 1, when used with: <ul> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Professional Edition</li></ul>

<ul> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Developer</li></ul>

<ul> <li>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Architect</li></ul> </li></ul>

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<div class="symptoms_section">

SYMPTOMS
When you try to install an update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, or for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:

The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable.

Click OK to try again, or enter an alternate path to a folder containing the installation package  .msi in the box below.

<div class="cause_section">

CAUSE
This issue may occur for multiple reasons. These include the following. <ul> <li>Setup cannot find the correct product MSI file in the Windows Installer cache.

When you install Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio .NET 2003, or Visual Studio .NET 2002, Setup saves the corresponding .msi file to the Windows Installer cache. This cached .msi file is referenced whenever you try to repair or to reinstall the product, or whenever you apply an update to the product.

In certain situations, Setup cannot find the .msi file in the Windows Installer cache. In these situations, Setup tries to resolve the source location by testing for the presence of the product installation in the last-used location when Setup was last run. If Setup cannot resolve the source location, the user is prompted to provide the installation media.</li> <li>There is a file hash mismatch.

Updates for Visual Studio are based on Windows Installer. Windows Installer uses file version numbers to determine whether a file on the computer is an older version that must be replaced by a newer file that is contained in an update.

Certain files, such as text files and source files, do not carry version numbers. Therefore, the Windows Installer-based update must use another method to verify newer files. This method uses a hash for all non-versioned files. For non-versioned files, the file hash of the file on the computer is compared with the file hash that is recorded in the Windows Installer database. If a difference is detected between these two file hashes, Setup tries to fetch the file from the source installation media. <ul> <li>File hash mismatches that are caused by modifications to files on the computer

Under certain circumstances, a user may manually modify a file that is installed during Setup. In this situation, you may be prompted to provide the installation media for the product when you try to install an update.

Note There are valid reasons to manually modify a file that is installed during Setup. For example you might want to add a product key (PID) to the setup process for a licensed copy of Visual Studio before you put the product on a network share in your organization. You do this so that you do not have to share the PID with users who must install the product. This change is typically made in a text file that is named Setup.sdb. When you make such a change, the file hash for the file no longer matches the file hash that Windows Installer carries for the file in its database.</li> <li>File hash mismatches that occur because of incorrect hashes that are carried in the product

Visual Studio .NET 2002 and Visual Studio .NET 2003 may carry hashes in the Windows Installer database that do not match the hash for the file that is installed by the product.

For more information about this issue in Visual Studio .NET 2002, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

939401 Error message when you try to install an update for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002: &quot;The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable&quot;

Note Knowledge Base article 939401 does not apply to Visual Studio 2005 or to Visual Studio .NET 2003.</li></ul> </li></ul>

<div class="workaround_section">

WORKAROUND
To work around this issue, insert the product installation CD in the computer's CD ROM drive. Or, provide the path of the available installation media for the product. For example, the installation media may be available on the computer's hard disk or in a shared network folder.

If you are trying to deploy an update to many computers on which this issue may occur, we recommend that the installation media be made available on a shared network folder.

Additional query words: prompt mismatch modification modify overwrite overwritten

Keywords: kbtshoot kbprb kbexpertiseinter KB944298

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