Unable to Install Visual Studio 2022 – Bootstrap Link Broken & Installer Stuck

Question

Hi,

I’m trying to create an offline installer for Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition using the instructions provided here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/install/create-an-offline-installation-of-visual-studio?view=vs-2022

However, the bootstrapper link (https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vs_community.exe) appears to be broken and isn’t downloading anything.

I opted for the offline method because the online installer also gets stuck at the “Getting things ready – downloading 0 bytes” stage and doesn’t proceed any further.

Could you please guide me on how I can install Visual Studio successfully?

Thank you,

Tayyab Mir

Answer 1

For anyone else unable to install Visual studio and the installer get stuck at download 0-bytes, these steps worked for me

Ensure your DNS resolution is working correctly. Try nslookup aka.ms in your command prompt. It should return one or more IP addresses. If it fails, you have a DNS issue.

1. Temporarily disable any VPNs, proxies, or security software (antivirus/firewall) completely. This is the most common cause of "downloading 0 bytes" issues.
2. Reset your network settings.
   • Open Command Prompt as administrator.
     • netsh winsock reset
       • netsh int ip reset
         • Reboot your computer.
3. Delete the Visual Studio Installer folder as mentioned in the previous response. This forces the installer to re-download its bootstrapping files, which might be corrupted.