Cannot Uninstall/Reinstall/Repair/Install

RaduKing

When I try to modify some installation settings I get this message:

---------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Setup
---------------------------
The Windows Installer package:

e:\vs\vs_setup.msi

could not be opened.



Choose Retry to try again. Choose Cancel for exit setup.
---------------------------
Retry Cancel
---------------------------


I just started the setup from the DVD...
i get the same result from Add/Remove programs...

any ideas

RaduKing

clicking Retry several times doesn't help
I also checked that the file e:\vs\vs_setup.msi
is accessible and it is

If I click cancel I get this message...

---------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Setup
---------------------------
A problem has been encountered while loading the setup components. Canceling setup.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------


why wouldn't let me uninstall it at least !

Xeen

After I installed Visual STudio 2005 Professional I tried to install the Service Pack 1. During the update something failed. I think I ran out of disk space or something. I'm not sure, I was updating with MS Windows auto update and it failed.

However after this failed my .NET framework did not work anymore and i had to reinstall it and my Visual Studio 2005 didn't work anymore either.
Now when I try to Repair/Reinstall/Uninstall Visual Studio I always get exactly the same error like RaduKing:

---------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Setup
---------------------------
The Windows Installer package:

g:\vs_setup.msi

could not be opened.


Choose Retry to try again. Choose Cancel for exit setup.
---------------------------
Retry Cancel
---------------------------

g: is my DvD ROM with the Visual Studio 2005 Professional CD 1.
When I open it the "vs_setup.msi" file is there.

Clicking Retry doesn't help and Cancel cancels the setup. I have tried a lot of things but i can't get Visual Studio 2005 to work anymore and i can not even unisntall und reinstall it.

I need Visual Studio 2005 for my studies and programming so if anyone could help me to solve this problem without reinstalling my whole system i would be thankful!

Vesa Suontama

I have the same problem and same symptoms: vs_setup.msi can not be opened.

I run out of disk space while installing service pack 1 for visual studio 2005.

I changed my temp folders to a different drive and re-installed the service pack. Visual studio works, but I can not uninstall/reinstall/repair or install anymore.

How could I install additional components now from the install CD

Thanks in advance,

Vesa

Andre Guibert de Bruet

I was seeing the very same errors you have all posted. I am glad to say that I have found a solution! You want to empty the "Patches" REG_MULTI_SZ in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\845140B1CB334714B879DA9C7B494888\Patches

It will get you to the point where you can use the DVD to reinstall or repair the Gold version and then proceed to apply VS2005 SP1.

In my case, I had installed the patch against the remote debugger vulnerability back in December. The installer for this patch didn't seem to register everything properly on my Windows 2003 Enterprise Server machine. Deleting patch registration against 845140B1CB334714B879DA9C7B494888 (Visual Studio 8/2005) is not a supported thing to do, but it will get you out of the bind where the product cannot be upgraded, removed or repaired.

Andre

Xeen

Hi, Andre Guibert de Bruet you are my hero!

I was looking for this key and could not find it. I thought it might be different because i did install the german version, so i looked through all keys in the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\" path and i found the key according to "Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition - DEU" with the number "70401600C6C7A684BBD108ECCAE770B6".
I cleared the REG_MULTI_SZ value in the "Patches" folder and now my setup runs again!

Thank you very much for your help!

Greetings,
Xeen

Andre Guibert de Bruet

Xeen,

As you found out, the GUIDs are different based on the version of VS2005 installed.

I am glad that I could be of assistance!

Cheers!
Andre

Gabriel Lozano-Moran

This error usually indicates that this is not the original CD/DVD that was used to install Visual Studio.

Andre Guibert de Bruet

Gabriel Lozano-Moran wrote:

This error usually indicates that this is not the original CD/DVD that was used to install Visual Studio.

I beg to differ. In my case, I used the original installation media that came from my MSDN subscription. I applied a patch for the remote debugger vulnerability that was made available on the public Visual Studio 2005 web page in December 2006. I have repeated the steps and can positively say that in my case, this patch was the cause of the problem.

Cheers,
Andre

Gabriel Lozano-Moran

The error I was referring to was in one of the comments that has now been modified or deleted by the poster. I am not referring to the error telling you that e:\vs\vs_setup.msi could not be opened.

Nick Yeldarb

This fix worked for me when I received the same error message trying to uninstall VS2003.

Just search for Visual Studio.NET in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products.