Multiple Errors Installing Visual Studio 2015 Comm

Question

When installing Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition on Windows 10, using the web installer, everything runs fine, however, the following packages fail to install:

• Team Explorer for Visual Studio 2015 -> Fatal Error
• Microsoft NuGet - Visual Studio 2015 -> Package Failed
• Microsoft Visual Studio Connected Services -> Packages Failed
• Azure AD Authentication Connected Services -> Packages Failed
• Microsoft Azure Mobile Services Connected Service -> Package Failed
• Microsoft Azure Storage Connected Service -> Packages Failed
• Microsoft.VisualStudio.Office365 -> Package Failed

I have attempted a few work around including uninstalling every Visual Studio Version on my system, manually deleting the files in C:\ProgramData\Program Cache, and even gone as far as to uninstall my Antivirus (AVG) having attempted to disable it and see if that works before hand. I even ran the command fsutil behavior set SymlinkEvaluation L2L:1 L2R:1 R2L:1 R2R:1

I have even tried to use the ISO but ran into the same issue.

Since I don't use either Azure or Team Explorer any solutions which mean I won't have access to them will suffice.

The log file that was generated by the Installer can be found here as it was over 65,000 characters long (just scroll to the bottom for all the fun).

Answer 1

After battling with this problem on and off for a couple of months, I finally got it to install.

I downloaded the Visualstudio2015AzurePack which uses the web installer.

One of the requirements it to install VS2015 community edition which worked without problems.

I hope this helps someone.

Answer 2

For some reason the installation broke while in process. After this, nothing helped and repair/unistall only produced package errors. What finally helped was this thing: https://github.com/Microsoft/VisualStudioUninstaller

after I ran it a couple times (it didn't remove everything on the first pass...es) I was finally able to start a fresh installation and it worked.

Answer 3

Make sure to check your machine.config files in both locations

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework[version]\Config C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64[version]\Config

I found out after trying all the solutions on this page.

Answer 4

In my case the solution had to do with enabling symbolic links. See How do I overcome the "The symbolic link cannot be followed because its type is disabled." error when getting the target of a symbolic link on Server 2008? for multiple ways to do it.

Answer 5

I spent a whole week trying to solve this issue. What finally did it for me was disabling my anti-virus programs. Before I stumbled upon my solution, I went through a lot of other solutions. I thought, I'd post some of the solutions that might prove to be useful for those who are still having trouble with installing Visual Studios 2015 Community Edition.

Solution 1: Minimal Installation

Try installing with minimal extra features. Run the Visual Studios 2015 installation, then click "Custom" and on the following screen, uncheck everything and proceed with the installation.

Solution 2: Delete installation cache

Perhaps the installation failed due to corrupt files in the cache. When installation fails, remove all Visual Studio cache related items and do a full re-installation. To do this, run command prompt (Run as Administrator) and type: "cd /programdata/package cache/" then press enter. Then type "del /f /s *.msi /f /s *.cab" then press enter. Now run the Visual Studios 2015 installation again.

Solution 3: Delete temporary file data stored on your computer

Open up File Explorer and go to "C:\Users\[Your User Account Name]\AppData\Local\Microsoft". Then delete the following folders: VSCommon, VisualStudio, Blend, VsGraphics, ApplicationInsights, vshub, Team Foundation, Web Platform Installer and MsBuild. After this, run the Visual Studios 2015 Installer again.

Solution 4: Enable all four evaluations of Symbolic links

First, check to see if all four evaluations are enabled. Open up command prompt (Run as Administrator) and type "fsutil behavior query SymlinkEvaluation". All 4 evaluations should be enabled. If they aren't then type "fsutil behavior set SymlinkEvaluation L2L:1 R2R:1 L2R:1 R2L:1". Once those 4 evaluations are set, clear up temporary files and clear installation cache (see Solution 2 and Solution 3) then run the Visual Studios 2015 installation again.

Solution 5: Repair the Redistributables

Perhaps, the problem is that your VC-redistributables are faulty and are in need of repair. To do so, run "Add/Remove programs" and look for all the x86 and x64 versions of Microsoft Visual C++ [Year] Redistributable (Version). Then press Change for each of them and when the uninstallation screen pops up, press Repair. I did it for all the versions I had previously installed: 2012, 2013 and 2015. Therefore, I repaired 6 of them: 2012: x86 and x64, 2013: x86 and x64, 2015: x86 and x64.

Solution 6: Check to see if x86 and x64 sizes are the same

As mentioned by others in this discussion, do a search for vcruntime140.dll and see if the x86 and x64 versions. They should NOT have the same size. If they do, see solution 5 or you can manually delete them (** Be cautious when deleting files from the Windows folder!) and re-install them (from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=48145).
Also do the same check for msvcp140.dll. I personally did a search for these files in "C:\Windows\SysWOW64 and C:\Windows\System32" and compared the files from the two folders. Moreover I also checked for differences of vcruntime140.dll and msvcp140.dll in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0" and "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0"

Solution 7: Temporarily disable all Anti-Virus Protection and Firewalls

For me, it turned out that the problem stemmed from having ByteFence Anti-Malware and Norton Security with Backup protection. I disabled real-time protection from ByteFence Anti-Malware and I disabled Auto-Protect and Smart Firewall from Norton Security with Backup. Before I ran the installation again, I repeated Solution 2 and Solution 3 (scroll up). And Voila, installation was successful. But how did I find out that the Anti-Virus Program was the culprit? Read Solution 8.

Solution 8: Carefully monitor Visual Studios Installation Process for Intrusions

I resorted to this solution in order to find out the problem. After reading Ezh's article, I decided to download Process Monitor v3.2 and Process Explorer v16.1. I was carefully monitoring 3 programs side-by-side: Process Monitor, Process Explorer and the Visual Studios 2015 Installer, and I watched very closely all the processes that the installer was invoking. Then I noticed that when VSIXInstaller.exe process came on and attempted to install something from a remote server, it kept failing over and over again because my Anti-Virus Program would suddenly appear on screen (as a process) and decide to hog/block some important DLL files that VSIX installation needed. Temporarily disabling the anti-virus program solved my issue!

Solution 9: Complete Windows format and re-installation

If all else fails, and you are really desperate to get Visual Studios 2015 working, I suggest a complete Windows re-installation. At this point, the problem is most likely some type of interference/intrusion with a program which you do not know of.

Answer 6

Like the rest of you, I've spent days trying to figure this out. I've been down this thread trying every combination of what you have all said, and nothing. I finally went to AppData/Local/Microsoft/VisualStudio and deleted all the folders in there. Then proceeded to turn off everything in my Anti virus and I finally got the basic installation to go all the way through. Frustrating, but hopefully this will help someone else who has tried everything.