install visual studio 2008 TS when I cant install windows installer?

Question

Hi all,

I needed to Add/Remove some things from my Visual Studio 2008 TS installation. I ran the setup but then I got the following error:

"A problem has been encountered while loading the setup components. Cancelling setup."

This error is handled in the VS2008Readme.htm where they say:

To resolve this issue: 1. Go to Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2) and install Windows Installer 3.1. 2. In Add or Remove Programs, make sure that Windows Installer 3.1 is on the list of installed programs. 3. Retry Visual Studio 2008 installation.

When I try to install the Windows Installer 3.1 I get the following message:

KB893803v2 Setup Error, Setup has detected that the Service Pack version of this system is newer than the update you are applying. There is no need to install this update.

First this I tried was looking for a newer Windows Installer in my Add/Remove programs, but there wasn't any. I can't just downgrade my OS's service pack in order to add an extra feature to the VS2008 installation.

What can I do?

Kind regards, Wim

Answer 1

The error message you're getting isn't necessarily due to a corrupted Windows Installer piece; you'll need to dig a little deeper to find what's really causing the problem when you try to Change/Repair your Visual Studio installation.

There's a great in-depth article on troubleshooting Windows Installer errors (specific to ASP.NET MVC, but you can use the same tips for more general troubleshooting) at http://haacked.com/archive/2009/03/05/troubleshooting-installers.aspx, but here's the short version:

• Clear out your temp directories ("C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp" and "C:\Windows\Temp"), then try the installer again. After it fails, go look for new log files in the temp directories again.

• If that fails, you'll want to run the installer off the Visual Studio install DVD from the Command Prompt with msiexec, something like this:

  msiexec /i vs_setup.msi /l*v C:\vs_install.log

• There is a helpful tool called 'WiLogUtl.exe' (from the Windows Installer SDK, or available elsewhere on the 'Net) that can sort through the massive amounts of entries in the MSI logs and tell you the specific error message.

• Once you know the real error message your getting, you can probably Google it to find other discussion threads from people with the same issue, or post it again at a site like this.