I have been able to successfully install a simple program using an Installer Project on Visual Studio Community 2017. However, I can't find out how to create a fully working deployable uninstaller for an end user.
The Installer Project was set up to only create an Application Folder (in C:\Program Files...) with the Program .exe, and nothing else. This it does successfully. I would like an installer because later I plan to make some registry keys upon installation.
To test uninstallation, I have run the original .exe file built by the Installer Project with the "Uninstall" option. This removes the Application Folder but does not remove the program from the Add/remove programs list in Windows - Leading me to believe there are other registry entries that have not been removed.
I have tried to uninstall purely from the Add/remove programs list, but then I get an error:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe
"Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."
In Visual Studio, I can click "Uninstall" from the Installer Project right-click menu which does successfully remove both the Application Folder and the Add/Remove Programs Item, but this is not a deployable solution.
Notes:
OS: Windows 10
Using Visual Studio 2017 Community
Looking at the application Folder, there is neither an install nor uninstall .exe file in it. The Installer Project .exe is only in the original build location, and I cannot find how to get a copy in the Application Folder (not sure if a copy there would work).
I have tried configuring the Installer Project as x86 and x64 with no change.
I have tried using both Debug and Release build configurations with no change.
From looking around, WiX seems to have more features and flexibility, but I haven't yet dug into that. Is there an easier solution?
Has this issue occurred to anyone else? My hopes were that Installer Projects were the simple way to learn and handle installation.
Looks like I jumped to conclusions in the comment above, however I think I found the issue: I cannot uninstall the program from the Windows Apps & Features window in System Settings, but uninstalling from Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features works fine.
When typing in "Remove" using the windows start button, the default item that comes up is "Add or Remove Programs" in System settings (This looks like a Windows 10 thing). When you click that, it forwards you to the "Apps & features window. I am now learning that for some reason this has different functionality than the control panel window. Or maybe it has lower permissions, although I am the admin and only user of this computer...
Because it can be uninstalled from Control Panel, I think this would be the preferred solution. My assumptions about the other window in system settings was my real issue. I just wish the Apps & features window aligned its functionality/permissions with control panel.
I also learned that uninstall is successful when I run msiexec.ex /I{PACKAGEID} in cmd. Not sure how relevant this is, but documenting here.
Installs and uninstalls are transactional, they either work completely or roll back completely. If you do an uninstall but the entry remains in Add/Remove Programs then it's likely that the uninstall did not in fact work.
When you do the install, if it has a UAC elevation dialog then the install is running with elevation and installing files/registry entries to locations prohibited to limited users. Removing files from those locations also requires elevation. You haven't said exactly how your uninstall works, but most likely it requires elevation to succeed, and your program isn't running elevated. If your program uninstalls silently the uninstall will fail silently, so it's possible that your program isn't actually checking that the uninstall worked.
I'd also guess that your Visual Studio session may be running elevated so uninstall from there works fine.
Apart from privileges, an uninstall from a running installed program tends not to work very well because the uninstall process cannot remove your running program or its folder because it's in use. So while you could get it to work (with elevation) you might find that your program and its folder are left behind until the next reboot. If people really want to do this, one of the strategies is to copy an uninstall program to the temp folder and fire it off asynchronously, so everything can be removed.
Uninstalls from Add/Remove Programs&Features generally work fine. Without some context that error message doesn't mean much. It's not a message that comes out of Windows Installer, so it's perhaps coming out of a custom action. Otherwise it may be an issue specific to the test machine.
There is never an uninstall exe in a Windows Installer setup. When you remove a product the system just calls the Windows API to remove the product. Windows Installer is part of the Windows OS with API support for everything that needs doing. Only non-MSI setups require an install and uninstall exe to do anything.
None of these issues seem to be related to your choice of tool. They all create MSI files and if an MSI design is not optimal it doesn't matter what tool you use. There's nothing wrong with WiX, but to install literally a few files it's overkill compared to Visual Studio.
We just did a move from storing all files locally to a network drive. Problem is that is where my VS projects are also stored now. (No versioning system yet, working on that.) I know I heard of problems with doing this in the past, but never heard of a work-around. Is there a work around?
So my VS is installed locally. The files are on a network drive. How can I get this to work?
EDIT: I know what SHOULD be done, but is there a band-aid I can put on right now to fix this and maintain the network drive?
EDIT 2: I am sure I am not understanding something, but Bob King has the right idea. I'll work with the lead web developer when he gets back into the office to figure out a temporary solution until we get some sort of version control setup. Thanks for the ideas.
While we do use Source Control, we do also run all our projects from Network Drives (not shared directories, private directories on network drives). The network drives are backed up nightly, and also use Volume Shadow Copy, so if you need to revert to something before it made it's way to SC, then you can.
To get projects to run correctly with the right permission, follow these steps.
Basically, you've just got to map the shared directory to a drive, and then grant permission, based on that Url, to all code. Say you map to "N:\", then use "N:\*" as your Url pattern. It isn't obvious you need to wildcard, but you do.
The question is rather generic so I'll give an answer to one issue I was facing.
I run Visual Studio 2010 using a Parallels virtual machine on my Mac while keeping all my projects on the mac side via a network share. Visual Studio however wouldn't load the projects assembly files from there. Trying to set the rights using "caspol" alone didn't help in my case.
What finally worked for me to allow Visual Studio to load assemblies from a network share was to edit the file
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe.config" (assuming a default installation).
in the xml "<runtime>" section you have to add
<loadFromRemoteSources enabled="true"/>
You may have to change the permissions on that file to allow write access. Save the file. Restart Visual Studio.
In the interests of actually answering the question, I copied this comment from jcarle.com:
Trusting Network Shares with Visual Studio 2010 / .NET Framework v4.0
January 20, 2011, 4:10 pm
If you are like me and you store all your code on a server, you will have likely learned about trusting a network share using CasPol.exe. However, when moving from Visual Studio 2008 (.NET Framework 2.0/3.0/3.5) over to Visual Studio 2010 (.NET Framework 4.0), you may find yourself scratching your head.
If you are used to using the Visual Studio Command Prompt to quickly get to CasPol, you may find that some of your projects will not seem to respect your new FullTrust settings. The reason is that, unless you are carefully paying attention, the Visual Studio Command Prompt defaults to adding the .NET Framework 4.0 folder to its path. If your project is still running under .NET Framework 2.0/3.0/3.5, it will require setting CasPol for those versions as well. Just a note, I have also personally had more success with using 1 as a code group instead of 1.2.
To trust a network share for all versions of the .NET Framework, simply call CasPol for each version using the full path as below:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CasPol -m -ag 1 -url file://YourSharePath* FullTrust
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\CasPol -m -ag 1 -url file://YourSharePath* FullTrust
I would not recommend doing that if you have (or even if you don't have) multiple people who are working on the projects. You're just asking for trouble.
If you're the only one working on it, on the other hand, you'll avoid much of the trouble. Performance is going to out the window, though. As far as how to get it to work, you just open the solution file from VS. You'll likely run into security issues, but can correct that using CASPOL. As I said, though, performance is going to be terrible. Again, not recommended at all.
Do yourself and your team a favor and install SVN or some other form of source control and put the code in there ASAP.
EDIT: I'll partially retract my comments. Bob King explains below the reason they run VS projects from a network drive and it makes sense. I would say unless you're doing it for a specific reason like Bob, stay away from it. Otherwise, get your ducks in a row before setting up such a development environment.
So I was having a similar issue. Visual Studio wouldn't recognize a network location I had mapped for a drive letter for anything. The funny thing is, it worked for a day. I set up my project and began working on it and had no issues. Then, I shut down and the next day nothing works. I couldn't read/write files in code, output my executables or anything. My project is local but my output was intended to be thrown up on the network.
Anyways, the problem is probably about the administrator context but one way to fix it which I found while digging around online is to get Visual Studio to browse to the drive in question some how. There are plenty of ways to do this but VS will magically be able to recognize mapped drive letters. My solution is to go the the Debug Output Location in the Project Properties, click browse and go to my previously made output location on my network drive and Voila!!!
I wanted to put this up because I spent half a day trying to figure this out and figured it might save someone else some time. Thanks much and good luck!!!
Erik
I understand this is an older thread, but this was the best thread I found when looking to solve a similar issue I had visual studio 2013 on a virtual box (using Win 8.1) and the code on the host machine (Win 7). Although I could open the solution, I could not compile. All of the other answers on this relate to older software, so I am adding this answer to update this frequently found question with the solution that worked for me.
Here's what I did; Made a registry entry to be able to use a UNC path as the current directory.
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.
Under the registry path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
\Software
\Microsoft
\Command Processor
add the value DisableUNCCheck REG_DWORD and set the value to 0 x 1 (Hex).
WARNING: If you enable this feature and start a Console that has a current directory of an UNC name, start applications from that Console, and then close the Console, it could cause problems in the applications started from that Console.
Found this information at link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156276
How about we rephrase this into a question that everyone can answer? I have the exact same problem as the initial poster.
I have a copy of VB 2008 (recently upgraded from VB6). If I store my solutions on the backed up network drive, then it won't run a single thing ever. It gives "partially trusted caller" errors for accessing a module, even when "allowpartiallytrustedcallers" is set in the assembly. If I store the files on my (not backed up) C:, then it will run wonderfully, until I put it on the share drive for everyone to use, and I'm back to my same problem.
This isn't a big request. I just want to be able to put a solution and executable on the share drive and run it without an absurd amount of nonsense about security. I shouldn't have to cram all my work into form files.
-Edit: I found the problem with why it was ignoring the AllowPartialllyTrustedCallers command. I'm trying to reference ADODB, which doesn't allow partially trusted. So, no network executable can access a database? What does Microsoft have against intranets anyway?
I was facing the same issue just recently so this answer is more for the sake of keeping track of my own knowledge. Anyway, should soumeone find it useful, below is the issue and the solution.
Issue:
NET 4.0 projects, SVN repo, checkout folders are on local drives, referenced assemblies are build by build server and available on a network drive. Visual studio on W7 is is able to add the reference but unable to build projects.
Solution:
Since NET 4.0 does not automatically provide a sandbox anymore for network assemblies, you have to make those full-trusted via machine.config update. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd409252.aspx
I had a similar problem with opening Visual Studio projects on a network drive, and I fixed it by creating a symbolic link on my local C:\ drive that points to the UNC directory
e.g.
mklink /D "C:\Users\Self\Documents" "\\domain.net\users\self\My Documents"
then you can just open the project using the C:\Users\Self\Documents\ path, instead of the UNC path
(You have to be careful, because Visual Studio will automatically redirect you to the '\\domain.net..' path if you double click the symlink when you're browsing for the project. I had to copy paste the 'C:\Users\' path to get it to open with the drive letter path)
Don't do it. If you have source control (versioning), you do not want your files on a network drive. It totally bypasses all you want to achieve by using source control, because once your files are on a network drive, anyone can modify them .... even while you're currently building your project. Ka-boooom!
PS: this sounds like a typical case of over-engineering to me.
Are you having any specific problems?
If you allow more than one person to open the solution, your first problem will be that the .NCB file (Intellisense) will be locked exclusively and only one user will be able to browse the class tree. And of course you have the potential for one user's changes to overwrite the other user's changes.
You should be warned that some feature in Visual Studio will refuse to work with network drive.
For example, mdf file of SQL Express user instance must be located in local drive.
For another example, if you use UNC path, you have to make sure they are short enought.
i found this helpful while trying use vc11 with parallels which run on mac:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/toolsforwinapps/thread/2ffdcb01-c511-4961-834b-afd5f2fbb8e1, and specifically:
1) You can switch from local debugging to remote debugging and set the machine name as 'localhost'. This will do a remote deployment on your local machine (thus not using the project's directory). You don't need to install the Remote Debugger tools, nor start msvsmon for this to work on localhost.
In case this helps anyone else, I had to do the steps outlined here to add the network share location to Windows intranet zone. In particular, I was having trouble with Visual Studio hanging on load when opening a solution on a network share (i.e. using VMware Fusion and opening a solution from my Mac's hard drive). I also had problems with PostSharp running in this scenario.
If i understand you correctly, your Visual Studio project files are stored on the network drive and you are running them from there. This is what I do and don't have any problems. You will need to make sure that you have set the security policy. You can use Caspol to do this, or via the control panel-admin tools menu.
"How can I get this to work?"
You have a couple choices:
Choice A:
1. Move all files back to your local hard drive
2. Implement some type of backup software on your machine
3. Test said backup solution
4. keep on coding
Choice B:
1. Get a copy of one of the FREE source control products and implement it.
2. Make sure it's being backed up
3. Test it
Choice C:
Use one of the many ONLINE source control repositories available. Google, SourceForge, CodePlex, something.
Well, my question would be why you are asking this. Is it not working when you are storing it on a network drive? I haven't tried this myself, and one problem I could envision would be that .NET code running from a network drive (ie. from the bin\Debug directory, also located on the network drive) would be running in a sandbox mode, unless you mess around with CASPOL (or use 3.5 SP1 which I hear has removed that obstacle).
If you have specific problems, ask about them. Never ask "Why is doing X not working?".
You're not saying if you're just one person or multiple persons accessing the same remote drive, but I'm assuming you're just one for each network directory. Is this correct? If not, no, there is no band-aid. Get version control, move the files back to a local disk.
here is some information to understand my situation better.
OS: windows 8.1
IDE: Visual Studio 2008 Pro
Language: C++
i have just my Firefox reinstalled and after this(maybe it was not the reason),
my visual studio Project compiled only with 9.0.30729.6161 VC++ Runtime DLL.
Until yesterday it always compiled with 9.0.30729.8387 VC++ Runtime DLL.
Because of this (or maybe other reason), now i cannot start my Project.exe.
Nothing is changed in source-code. Project-Property and all other things are also unchanged.
I just get the error number 0xc000007b suddenly.
How can i fix this?
It was because of an 32bit DLL, which should not be loaded for my 64bit Project.exe.
I have found this with Process Monitor.
I don't know why, but anyway is the "path" is changed and the 32bit DLL(which has the same name with 64bit DLL) is loaded..
If you have the same Problem, check whether there is a problem between your application and its dependencies using dependency walker.
Entered the answer in another place, but figure it could be helpful for folks who badly need some help:
It has been mentioned in other answers that using dependency walker is the way to go, in my case (my application keeps failing with the error code), dependency walker showed a few dll that are NOT relevant!
Finally figured out that I can run profiling by going to "profile" menu and it will run the application and stop at the exact dll that's cause the problem! I found out a 32bit dll was picked because of path and fixed it.
-Turn off your antivirus software before starting the installation.
-Accept any additional software offered during installation process, since it may be crucial for running your application properly. You can skip things such as search bars, antivirus scanners, registry cleaners and the other software which isn’t directly related to the application.
-Install an application to the system partition (C:). Although this shouldn’t matter, it’s been proven that some apps may return an error if installed on a logical partition.
There is more than one way to solve it. This link might also be helpful.
http://finally-found-the-solution.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-to-fix-0xc000007b-application-error.html
Is it possible that I need to install both a vcredist for vs2012 AND for vs2010?
I just had an error where my app couldn't load a .dll and it suddenly started working after I did an unrelated installation, which prompted me to guess that it must have installed an older vcredist which fixed the issue.
However I'm sure I'm using c++11 features.
Deployment is a job on its own. And I hate it, I hate the way you have to write installations on Windows. …So that feel better now…
You only need one vcredist. The one the linker decided to link your program to. If you have the "Windows SDK's" installed you will find the actual redist in:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bootstrapper\Packages\vcredist_x86
If you install all updates including the not important ones, Microsoft will update your redist in that folder!
Maybe you have an executable, which do not want to run, you need the dependency walker. A tool, so usefully that Microsoft had to remove it from the Visual Studio. Download the program and open your exe in it. You do not need to understand what really happen. As long as no Dialog comes up during opening, everything is okay, even if there are exclamation marks in the bottom window. If a Dialog comes up with something like "Could not resolve" than look in the bottom window. Usually there is now in the lower window something like
"msvcr.dll" or "msvcr100.dll" or "msvcr110.dll".
If it includes an "d" before the extension like "msvcr100d.dll" the executable was compiled in debug mode and your journey ends on a system without installed compiler. If not, the name is telling you which vcredist you need:
msvcr100 = VS 2010 redist (32bit) (64bit)
msvcr110 = VS 2012 redist (32/64bit?)
sometimes it is not msvcr but it always starts with "ms". Of course the program will tell you every dll which is missing, not only microsofts and which command in the dll is used. This is sometimes extremely useful.
You have to do that with every dll in the folder of your executable as they can also have unresolveable dependencies.
Back to your first question. Your program can only link to msvcr100 or msvcr110, not to both, that is the reason you only need one vcredist per executable.
As mentioned in a commentary, A third party DLL can be guilty of using a different msvcp version. So yeah, you have to search all DLL's you use and you have to install both vcredist some times.
PS: There are always at least two of them, msvcr and msvcp.
I solved this problem as follows (on Windows 7):
I tried to load the library and it failed showing "The application failed to start because its side by side information is incorrect."
I opened "Computer management" window: Start -> right click on Computer->Manage.
In the "Computer management" window I selected "Event Viewer"->"Windows logs"->"Application".
The log corresponding to the error said that a DLL for a certain version of Microsoft.VC90.CRT was not found. In my case the version was 9.0.30729.6161 and the search for it in Google revealed I needed to install an "unusual" version of redistributables from here.
The dependency walker did not help for me (it only confused me by reporting unnecessary dependencies).
If you want to know which runtimes are needed, you can try using the "Dependencies" tool from lucasg on github (https://github.com/lucasg/Dependencies) which works on modern systems like win10.
You'll just have to look for MsVcR##.dll o VcRuntime###.dll (where # stands for a digit) in the dependency tree..
HTH
PS: The old-and-faithful "dependency walker" we've been using for years seems to be unable to handle the way newer OS handle delayed dependencies, marking them as "missing", while they are not missing, just delay loaded in a way it doesn't know...
If your OS is Vista or later (not XP), use the built-in SxStrace.exe to generate a log of which DLL's are being loaded and what module requires them. It will clearly show you if multiple CRT DLL versions are being loaded, and for what DLL's (3rd party or no).
The VS2012 redistributable is put into, e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\VC\redist".
-- David
I am running windows 7 and I am trying to get this IDE to work and I am have an incredibly frustrating time making it work.
I am following these instructions
Quick guide:
File > New > Project
Select "Win32 Console Application"
Enter a name and location, select OK
In the Win32 Application Wizard under "Application Settings", select "Console Application" and select "Empty project".
Click Finish.
On the right (or left) hand pane should be Solution Explorer. Open it and right click on the "Source Files" folder and Add > Add New Item.
Select C++ file (.cpp)
Write code, hit F5 to start with debugging, ctrl+f5 to start without debugging.
After step 4 I get the error, "The platform root directory "E:..........\MSBuild\Microsoft.cpp\v4.0\Platforms" does not exist.
What do I do? I installed it in my E drive, maybe what it wants is on my C drive? It is not possible for me to install it there though because I am using a SSD for my C drive.
Update, I have tried to uninstall and reinstall and then clear my temp folder and then reinstall and then uninstall with the uninstall utility and then reboot and the reinstall and none of that works.
I turning off my firewall and antivirus and installing and running and that did not help at all. Next I am going to format my hard drives and try and install again.
I tried installing the ultimate version and I had the same problem. I have no idea what to do, it seems like I am out of options.
Any ideas?
My best guess now is that I have to manually install the missing files somehow, where can I find those?
I installed Dev C++ and it works fine, should I just continue using this (as far as I can tell superior program) or try and fix Express?
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Express
The platforms root directory "E:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\Platforms" does not exist.
OK
--------------------------- The microsoft.cpp part is missing but it exists in the C drive. I copied that over to the E drive and now when I open a project I get a blank screen, if I open older ones it says I need .net framework 4.0 which I do have.
This has to be the worst program I have ever had to deal with, I have played video games in beta that worked better than that.
I think I got this working, I am not sure though.
It appears to be working but I get some strange errors, I am just going to accept this because at least now after an entire weekend I can begin my homework.
Since - as you've pointed out - you've already reinstalled VC++ and nothing seems to work and you've tried everything - you may also try this (if you've not given up yet):
you may try trial version of full visual studio VS2010 trial
you may try to install your VS express on friends PC on 'non-C' drive
perform antivirus check of your system
after installing full version - install service pack (VS SP)
ensure you uninstall all (if any) prior versions of VC, VB, VC# or visual studion that you may have
always reboot after installation
If (1) works this may suggest your VS express is somehow corrupted (would be weird to be able install it than - but I've seen so many weird things that I may believe it ;-)
If (2) works this may suggest your PC/OS is causing problems.
Let me/us know if any of above helps.
I would uninstall and reinstall the whole thing rather than keep spinning your wheels. Honest!
Q: Your "E:" drive is a read-write drive, isn't it?
Q: E: is the drive you installed to, correct?
Q: Hopefully, E: is a normal disk drive, isn't it?
If not (if it's a shared network drive, or a nice'n'slow USB drive), please consider installing VS2010 to a hard drive.
MSVS should not be hard to install or use. It takes awhile ... but it's usually pretty straightforward.
If you've having problems, then I strongly urge you to 1) uninstall, 2) reboot, 3) reinstall.
IMHO...
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/69925677-8a07-46a4-8b0e-c9ddef17a7af/visual-studio-2010-fails-in-c-trying-to-set-the-references-parameter?forum=vssetup
The solution in a similar case of installing VS2010 C# on a seperate drive was to copy the Reference Assemblies folder from C:\Program Files to E:\Program Files.
When I had the the same error as the poster above on VS2010 C++, when installing to a different drive, I did the same for the MSBuild Directory and the errors in VS2010 C++ disappeared.
It seems that Visual Studio installs/creates those directories on the same drive as windows 100% of the time, but the registry values still look for them on the same drive that you installed Visual Studio on.