Unable to update visual studio installer - visual-studio-2017

Wanted to add this question to the pool in case someone has the same problem
I was unable to update Visual Studio 2017 on Windows 7 and got the following error:
Unable to install the files to target location. Error: The folder
'c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer' or a file
within it is locked by another program. Close any applications that
might be using it and try again.


The initial solution I found was to reinstall Visual Studio but felt that it might be unnecessary. The solution I found was to close down visual studio, go to "c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer", rename the folder "Installer" to something else then run vs_installer.exe from the renamed folder.
Hope that help someone.


I just recently encountered the same error while trying to update the Visual Studio 2017 installer on Windows 10. In my case, the c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer directory was locked because of virus/malware scanning software running in the background. After stopping that, the installation of the VS 2017 installer had no more problems.
What initially misled me about the source of the problem was that the process which had a lock on the files in that directory was the special System process in Process Explorer, so I was initially going down the wrong rabbit hole.


If you have malwarebytes then you can add to the allow list C:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio and it will work.


I got it working by downloading the installer separately, rebooting, and running the installer directly.
VS Installer Downloads


I encountered this when trying to update VS2019. I could not rename the Installer folder. Rebooting didn't help. I tried uninstalling everything related to Visual Studio via Control Panel, but the uninstall failed. It removed everything except a subfolder containing VSIXAutoUpdate.exe and some dlls. The installer still would not run.
This final step allowed me to delete the Installer folder and do a fresh install of Visual Studio.
Open Task Manager > Processes Tab
End Process "VSIXAutoUpdate"
Delete folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer"


TL;DR
Stop the Task Scheduler service and ensure no open handles for the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer dir
Details
I just had the same problem, and even rebooting didn't help. So, I dug in!
Process Hacker revealed there was a lock on the following file by the System process:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\resources\app\ServiceHub\Services\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Service\VSIXConfigurationUpdater.exe.
If I used Process Hacker to close the handle, it just immediately reopened again :/
I thought to check Task Scheduler (since it runs as SYSTEM in svchost), and sure enough there were tasks in there that run VSIXConfigurationUpdater.exe, even though they weren't actually running at that time.
So I stopped the Task Scheduler service, then used Process Hacker to close the handle on VSIXConfigurationUpdater.exe - and this time it didn't return! After ensuring there were no open handles on anything inC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer, the Visual Studio installer was able to update.


I found the culprit for me was Malwarebytes disabled this and all worked well. Hope this helps somebody.


I tried to run through the steps #Janspeed specified, but there were a couple of language folders in the resources directory that were corrupted/locked, so just renaming wouldn't work. I managed to copy most of the file/dir structure (minus the corrupted ones) to a new directory but had to run a chkdsk /f on a restart before I could get those folders freed up and deleted. Once I had this worked out, #Janspeed's steps worked fine, including just deleting the new directory that I had copied everything into.


I ran into this issue today, turns out it was MalwareBytes Endpoint Protection that was blocking the update which is rather annoying.
Luckily I'm the admin and developer so I was able to drop my laptop from the antivirus to enable the update and then re-add it but in a larger corporate environment with red tape this isn't great at all.


I had faced the same issue while updating Visual Studio 2017 and 2019. I tried to open the Visual Studio Installer directly as admin and then it worked as expecred.


Update kept failing when using the "Check for Updates" menu item in the VS2019 IDE. When I ran the Visual Studio Installer from the Windows Start bar it immediately prompted to download the latest version of the installer. Once that was done it then offered to update VS2019.

Related

Visual Studio Test Explorer doesn't show results

Visual Studio's Test Explorer was not showing the icons that indicate whether tests passed or failed. There were additional problems.
I'd tried rebuilding the solution, reinstalling Visual Studio, as well as rebooting the machine.

I deleted the .vs directory under the solution. The files were corrupt and I could not delete through Windows Explorer. I booted into safe mode command prompt and still could not delete the files. Running chkdsk /f found and fixed a few issues. Now I was able to delete the files in the .vs directory, boot into a normal Windows session and confirm the fix worked.
I hope this helped you fix a similar problem!

Fatal error during installation of VS 2017 Community

I've been trying to install Visual Studio 2017 Community edition for about a week, but I keep getting the following errors.
Message Id: 1310 Message Details: Error writing to file:
Microsoft.SqlServer.Types.dll.
Message Id: 1310 Message Details: Error writing to file:
Microsoft.VisualStudio.PerformanceTools.Detours.dll.
I'm trying to install the desktop applications workload, or whatever it's called.
I've searched around on the internet, and tried a few things. Including
- Installing all pending windows updates.
- Uninstalling the VS installer, running a clean up utility, and rebooting.
- Trying to manually run the msi that is failing (they still fail).
- Uninstalling every SQL server thing on the machine.
I haven't been able to find anything on the internet, that solved my problem. Any help would be appreciated.

I think what might have happened is you might have some older versions of DLLs in place that you don't have permission to overwrite. Please uninstall VS 2017 again, then manually delete C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 15.0 and/or C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 15.0 then try the installation again.
This is assuming you don't need any pre-existing stuff in those directories.
The detours dll for example would be in something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 15.0\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies
It can be folder permissions related. Do you have permission to write to the directories you need? Try running the installer "as administrator", and make sure the user you are installing as will have the permissions to write to that folder and the program files folders. Maybe try installing in another directory.
Download the installer fresh again, it could be corrupted.
Make sure you did not run out of disk space.
Since there is a SQL Server DLL conflicting, maybe try uninstalling SQL server, clearing out directories manually that contain that DLL, then reinstall.
One of these things should help but it's hard for me to be sure without access to the environment. Good luck! I hope this helps.

The setup for this installation of visual studio is not complete, really?

I have been using Vs 2017 for several months on dev machine. This fine morning says setup incomplete. Am I missing something?

In this case you need to go to Control Panel => Programs and Features and choose Visual Studio and update it.

VS 2017 (15.6.6) was fine for me on Friday 6/1/18 on Windows 10, but same issue as OP today after a restart.
As suggested by the dialog and Retired Ninja, I ran the Visual Studio Installer (to 15.7.3 after updating VS Installer) and that fixed it.
Note that the 15.7.3 update was a 7.73 GB download. Your download size may vary.

This has happened to me for the last 3 upgrades in Visual Studio Enterprise 2017 (now again on upgrade to 15.9.21).
The fastest fix (and I'm not sure why) is simple and doesn't bomb your settings or take for ever.
In the Visual Studio Installer, click on Modify.
Click "Modify" on the bottom right corner.
Yes it says "Total space required 0 KB".
Yes you didn't really change anything.
It will then act like it is downloading something. (not sure what)
It will then act like it is installing something. (again, not sure what)
Open Visual Studio 2017 and it works.
Hope this helps.

If you have an offline installation like me and can't simply re-run the Visual Studio Installer you can edit devenv.isolation.ini and change the last line to read SetupFinished=true. It will detect your trickery and complain, but at least it will launch again.
Edit: I ended up getting the Visual Studio Installer to fix the issue after choosing the "Download then Install" option. Maybe I was too impatient when I initially stopped the update? My above answer is useful when you need to get work done that isn't affected by the broken features, but you will likely encounter problems later on.

just had the same problem (without any reason with) vs 2019 prof, after googling and reading on that topic, just went to vsix, looked for some individual component to install/uninstall, randomly picked cloud explorer, uninstalled it and some dependent components and VS 2019 prof started normally
decided to leave this here. may be it helps somebody

Solved: I did following steps, run the visual studio and it works for me.
In my case visual studio was working fine , I just restarted the PC, this popup was keep coming when I try to open visual studio.(in my case I was using VS 2019)
Go to this path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\Common7\IDE"
Open devenv.isolation.ini, set SetupFinished=true and save.
Now open visual studio.
Cheers!

In my case did following steps:
Clear temp files (you can %temp% in run command and Shift+Delete files)
Restart your computer
Open visual studio it will work properly.
Update: Faced problem again after couple of days, This time I go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer.
Click on retry.
Select one more feature which I had already installed on my Visual Studio
Click on modified and after installation it worked again.

This happened to me after I canceled a plugin update.
I solved by going to this site that has the latest update of Visual Studio.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/releasenotes/vs2017-relnotes
I downloaded and upgraded it.
After that, Visual Studio worked.
If your VS is already upgraded, there´s an option to "repair" on the installer.

For this problem, goto uninstall screen in control panel right-click visual studio and select option change, Installer page will open now, In that window without changing anything click modify. it will solve the problem. I'm using VS Professional 2017

I got the same error today morning. This is what I did:
I ran the visual studio installer then I clicked on Modify.
The installer was showing 0KB Required. I continued and then it downloaded and installed. (Not sure what).
After that installation, it was able to launch.
I hope it works for you as well.

I was using Vs 2019 professional 16.6 and happened to me this issue one morning. I modified the installation by adding Azure Development tools even though I was not using it. This fixed the issue.

I just updated to 15.9.24 and I got this yet again, as I have my resolution above, and Visual Studio 2019 seems to be a lot better with avoid this issue. The installer for 2019 you do have to change something and do the modification, 2017 you don't have to change anything.
I reported this issue through Developer Community:
Setup not complete since 15.9.21

I don't know why but sometimes its buggy
it's up to date but after launch visual studio this error prompted !
you have to click modify in vs installer and just modify it.
its not going to download anything.
after a moment launch vs and enjoy :)

For VS2022, WIN11:
Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Microsoft Visual Studio Installer
Then, click on Change and resume the previous process.

Visual Studio 2015 Missing Universal templates

I've been having this problem for about a month, and I am completely stuck.
Under the "New Project" window I don't see the windows 10 universal templates, but have the sdk and tools installed.
All pictures are in this folder on dropbox.
New Project Window: Capture.png (on dropbox)
What I tried:
.net 3.5 enable/disable under "programs and features"/"Turn Windows features on or off"
full uninstall/reinstall with VisualStudioUninstaller
full uninstall/reinstall with Revo Uninstaller
iso intaller
running "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE>devenv /installvstemplates" command with admin privileges
repairing with original installer
modifying with original installer
The strange thing is that in the installer (when modifying) the Universal Windows App Development checkbox is checked. (Capture1.png ... Capture5.png)
I have, however, found out that the folders at "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates\VC\Windows Root\Windows UAP\1033" is completely empty... Isn't that supposed to be the template folder for the projects? (Capture6.png)
I would be grateful if you could give me some advice fixing this issue.

Okay, so for anyone having this problem:
Check if the "Windows Installer" service is running under Task Manager/Services.
If not right click and select Start service.
After that run the installer for Visual Studio and select repair.
After the repairing finishes, (reboot if you want, it wasn't required for me) all the templates are installed.
(And yes, if you still have this problem, write to microsoft, they are helpful in these kinds of questions)

Unable to start VS2012 Profiler

I'm trying to start a performance profiling session in Visual Studio 2012 RTM on Windows 8 PRO 64-bit for a console program (ANALYZE / Start Performance Analysis).
I get a popup message informing me
Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.PerformanceTools.CounterInfo.dll' or one of its dependencies. The Specified module could not be found.
Apparently this can happen under VS2010 after KB2645410 is installed. I carefully followed the procedure given for this issue with the same error message:
Visual Studio 2010 SP1, KB2645410 and Add-Ins
However, that does not resolve the issue.
I have tried running VS2012 as Administrator as well.
How can I get the profiler working?
UPDATE
I can actually attach to a running instance of the project from the command line using the steps here:
Walkthrough: Command-Line Profiling Using Sampling
However, Visual Studio does not open the resulting .vspx file (it just does nothing after I open it with File / Open File).
UPDATE 2
Fuslogvw reports two binding errors when I attempt to start the profiler:
VS 2012 Profiler Binding Errors - Pastebin

Adding the following to the system path resolved the issue for me permanently.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Team Tools\Performance Tools
Some other answers may be appropriate to other situations.
Note that you probably will need to run Visual Studio as Administrator for profiling to work correctly.

I also struggled with that issue.
I found a working solution for me:
I opende the XXX.sln file using notepad.
There i found several parts in the Project and Global Section looking something like this:
ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
Performance1.psess = Performance1.psess
EndProjectSection
I removed all of them and that made my Analyzer work again.

I delete the .suo file and everythings works correctly now.

The same question exists here:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/a6487155-980c-4bc8-82de-2fe588fdf37f/windows-update-kb2645410-and-performance-tools-error
The following are suggested workarounds:
Remove windows update KB2645410
Only run one instance of Visual Studio
If you are the administrator on your development PC you can add the permission to Everyone to read and execute all the content in the folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Team Tools\Performance Tools" and subfolders/files.
"I backed everything up and did a complete repair of Visual Studio using the original disk from Microsoft. That allowed the computer to shut down normally. Then I tried the patch again. It hung again, but after a few reboots we got a message about deleting corrupt files and finally everything seems OK."

My issue was resolved when I realized that my user access control was set too high. Once that was turned off, I rebooted and it all worked great.

Once I uninstalled re-sharper my issue was resolved.