Microsoft KB Archive/319714

= How to troubleshoot Visual Studio .NET installation =

Article ID: 319714

Article Last Modified on 3/10/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Academic Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect
 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer
 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Academic Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Architect
 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Developer
 * Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2003 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual J# .NET 2003 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual J# .NET 2003 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q319714





For a Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 version of this article, see 904732.



SUMMARY
This step-by-step article describes best practices for troubleshooting Visual Studio .NET installation and, if you experience problems during the installation, describes general steps for how to locate log files. More specific errors and problem are addressed in other Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles.

Most installations of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET products occur as expected. The Microsoft Windows Installer is used to install these products. This is the same installation engine that you will use to deploy applications that you have developed in Visual Studio .NET.

Because of this, the installation should go smoothly, create the required log files, be self healing if damaged (resiliency), and perform complete rollbacks if potential problems are detected.

Best practices steps can prevent many problems. Consider using best practice installation methods for all installation, including service packs (SPs).



Best practice installation methods
Best practice installation methods for computers that are running Windows NT (including Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP) have the following three criteria:
 * Use the Local Administrator account.

This prevents both permissions issues and rights issues. The Local Administrator account is the maintenance account. Use this account when you install and remove programs.
 * Stop all required services and programs.

Many programs, particularly antivirus and other monitoring programs, interrupt the installation process.
 * Clear the System\Temp folder.

The installation wizards use the System\Temp folder heavily. If the installation leaves corrupted files or folder there, the installation re-applies the corrupted versions instead of going to the installation source for fresh copies.

Use the Local Administrator account
By default the Local Administrator is named Administrator. However, you can rename this account for security reasons. To view the name and to change the password, follow these steps:
 * 1) Right-click My Computer. (On a computer running Windows NT 4.0, use the User Manager instead of these steps. Domain Controllers do not have access to Local Users and Groups.)
 * 2) Click Manage.
 * 3) Expand Local Users and Groups.
 * 4) Click Users.
 * 5) In the Details pane, locate the Administrator account. Typically, this account is named Administrator, and the description is Built-in account for administering this computer/domain.
 * 6) To change the password, right-click the account, and then follow the on-screen instructions.

Stop all required services and programs
To stop the services and the programs, follow the steps for your operating system:  Windows NT 4.0:  Click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Services. Stop all non-Microsoft services, including services for antivirus programs and other monitoring programs.  Windows 2000:  Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Services.</li> Stop all non-Microsoft services, including services for antivirus programs and other monitoring programs.</li></ol> </li> Windows XP:

Windows XP has a utility that is named MSConfig that prevents services and programs from starting for the installation session. For more information about how to run this utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

310353 How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP

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Delete the contents of the System\Temp folder

 * 1) Click Start, click Run, type %temp%, and then click OK. This command opens the System\Temp folder.
 * 2) Delete the contents of this folder. If any contents are important (should not be deleted), move these items to another folder.

Installation
Windows Component Upgrade (WCU) in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or Visual Studio .NET Prerequisites in Visual Studio .NET 2003, gives the prerequisites for the Visual Studio .NET products. Depending on your operating system, different components are installed and the installation process requires a different number of restarts.

The destination computer should never have had any Beta or Release Candidate Visual Studio .NET product installed on it. If these product have been installed, it is a good idea to rebuild the computer (reformat the hard disk, and then install the operating system again) to verify that these products have been removed completely.

The executable file for Visual Studio .NET is named Setup.exe. This file is located in the root folder of Disk 1 of the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM installation media. This file appears in the installation dialog box. You must click 1 (the first selection, which is the WCU or Prerequisites) before you can click 2 to install Visual Studio .NET.

Setup prompts you for the WCU or Prerequisites disk, and then returns to the numbered installation media. For more information about WCU, see the &quot;References&quot; section of this article.

By default, verbose logging is turned on for the Visual Studio .NET installation. The log file is named VSMsiLog*.txt (* represents four alphanumeric characters in the file name, for example, VSMSILogA1d1.txt). The file is approximately 40 megabytes (MB).

Component files and logs
The following table lists each component, its location on the installation media, and the log file that is generated. Many of these log files are placed in the System\Temp folder, and then moved to the \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET\Visual Studio .NET\Logs folder when the installation is completed.

Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003
You can prevent many corrupted file issues and media reading issues by doing a flat install. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322950 Error messages when you cancel setup of Visual Studio .NET or the MSDN Library

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