Unable to start or reinstall VS 2022 Community

Ted Ladewski 6 Reputation points
2022-05-25T17:06:59.337+00:00

After I mistakenly installed .NET 4.8, VS would not start. Attempting to start VS results in the "Unknown Error" message dialog. ActivityLog reads "Could not locate appropriate CLR version. Try rebooting, reinstalling." and "Failure calling VsHookCLRLoading." I tried uninstalling and reinstalling VS Community. Installation starts with the Installer dialog that reads "Preparing: C:\Users...\vs_setup_bootstrapper.json" but then quits without further comment. Also tried restart and InstallCleanup.exe and vs_installershell.exe. Up-to-date Win 11. Thanks for any help!

Visual Studio Setup
Visual Studio Setup
Visual Studio: A family of Microsoft suites of integrated development tools for building applications for Windows, the web and mobile devices.Setup: The procedures involved in preparing a software program or application to operate within a computer or mobile device.
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  1. Ted Ladewski 6 Reputation points
    2022-05-26T20:30:33.597+00:00

    Hmmm. Event Viewer says this, which looks like a problem:

    MMC could not create the snap-in. The snap-in might not have been installed correctly.
    Name: Event viewer
    CLSID: FX:{b05566ad-fe9c-4363-be05-7a4cbb7cb510}

    I see a discussion to address this in
    https://techcult.com/fix-mmc-could-not-create-the-snap-in/

    Would you recommend I take the techcult suggestion and delete the registry entry/entries? There are two registry entries for FX:{b05566ad-fe9c-4363-be05-7a4cbb7cb510}

    Yes, I did see the VS 2019 question when trying to solve this on my own. (I use only Windows Defender plus monthly ESET online scans. I did not, however, run VisualStudioSetup.exe as administrator.)

    I'm a bit hesitant to take online advice without running it by you first. Once bit, twice shy.

    Thanks,
    Ted

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  2. Michael Taylor 48,826 Reputation points
    2022-05-25T20:28:42.897+00:00

    Not sure why installing .NET 4.8 would break VS. Try installing the latest version of .NET 4.x framework so the framework is correct. Then rerun the VS installer. After you've done that then post the setup logs so we can see where it is failing.

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  3. Ted Ladewski 6 Reputation points
    2022-05-25T22:13:06.907+00:00

    First, thanks very much for your help -- no doubt something you've heard before from desperate people. In 25 years with VS, I've never had a problem like this.

    You may very well be right that .NET problem is a misdiagnosis.

    I'm not sure what log file you need, so I attached my best guess, dd_VisualStudioSetup_decompression_log, which is written by the VS Installer.

    Also attached is ActivityLog, which VS writes when I try to start it. (By the way, why does VS do anything now -- I thought I uninstalled it. I got the same message before I uninstalled as after I uninstallation.)

    Also attached is "VS not start.png" that has some screen shots.

    Again, thanks,
    Ted205560-dd-visualstudiosetup-decompression-log.txt205598-activitylog.xml205651-vs-not-start.png

  4. Anna Xiu-MSFT 25,891 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2022-05-26T09:37:54.613+00:00

    Hi @Ted Ladewski ,

    Please try the following steps to do a clean uninstallation of VS:

    1. Manually delete any leftover install and cache folder you previously installed to
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio
      %programdata%\Microsoft\visualstudio\packages
      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio
    2. Delete the setup registry key, which was set when you first installed(Maybe there is only one key, please check one by one.):
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Setup
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Setup
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Setup

    Besides, as this issue appeared after installing .NET Framework 4.8, considering that your .NET Framework or OS may be corrupted.
    Please try to use the Microsoft .NET Framework Repair Tool to repair your .NET Framework.
    And run “sfc /scannow” to repair missing or corrupted system files

    Then, reboot your computer and download the new bootstrapper file to reinstall VS: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/

    Sincerely,
    Anna
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  5. Ted Ladewski 6 Reputation points
    2022-05-26T14:38:23.99+00:00

    Hi, Anna.

    Thanks for the very clear instructions, which I could follow easily.

    I wonder if I'm just doing something wrong, because I still cannot reinstall VS 2022.

    Installation seems to start ok, but as before, it stops with no comment. Attached are a couple of screenshots with comments.

    (I have a Dell Latitude 5590 with 256 GB SSD and 45 GB free, 16GB RAM, 64-bit Win11 Pro 21H2 up to date. VS 2022 was working great until a few days ago.)

    Thanks again for your help,
    Ted205893-vs-not-install.png

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