Unable to start or reinstall VS 2022 Community

Question

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!

Answer 1

Hi, CoolDad.

Thanks for your continued help and clear instructions, which I followed. That didn't solve the problem, so I again ran the Microsoft .NET Framework Repair Tool as Anna suggested.

And, I still am unable to get VS to install.

Some background might be relevant. I believe this problem started when I got an invitation from Zoom to update. Zoom wanted to additionally update .NET, and I foolishly accepted. The Zoom update failed, so I restored .NET framework 4.8. It's possible that what Zoom screwed something up, but that is speculation on my part.

The attached file shows screenshots that attempt to document what I did today and what the results were.

Thanks, again,
Ted

Answer 2

Thanks for the clarification.

I previously tried installing .NET 4.8 Runtime, but it replied with the dialog saying that it refused, because 4.8 was already installed. Do I need to uninstall .NET 4.8 Development Pack first?

Windows Features does not show ASP.NET. Should I install it from

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/aspnet/hello-world-tutorial/install

(By the way, should it be relevant, all of my development is C++ native.)

Thanks, again!
Ted

Answer 3

Thanks. Yup, you're right. I was looking in the wrong place for ASP.NET. I switched it on from Windows Features (see attachment). I rebooted and tried to install VS 2022 but got the same failed result.

Then I ran ndp48-devpack-enu.exe and Uninstalled .NET Framework 4.8 Developer Pack. When I next ran ndp48-web.exe to install the Runtime, I got the message that it was already installed.

The attached file is updated to show Windows Features, today's downloads, the result from ndp48-devpack-enu.exe, and the result from ndp48-web.exe.

Running VisualStudioSetup.exe gives the same result -- a dialog saying it is preparing vs_setup_bootstrapper.json and after 6 seconds closing with no further feedback.

Thanks for sticking with me!
Ted

Answer 4

Hi, CoolDad.

I'm guessing the relevant log file is C:\Users\tedla\AppData\Local\Temp\dd_VisualStudioSetup_decompression_log.txt

This is what's in it:

[5/26/2022, 14:24:5] === Logging started: 2022/05/26 14:24:05 ===
[5/26/2022, 14:24:5] Executable: C:\Users\tedla\Downloads\VisualStudioSetup.exe v17.2.32519.379
[5/26/2022, 14:24:5] --- logging level: standard ---
[5/26/2022, 14:24:5] Directory 'C:\Users\tedla\AppData\Local\Temp\6d83f6cb3a3cf259910870b5691c\' has been selected for file extraction
[5/26/2022, 14:24:5] Extracting files to: C:\Users\tedla\AppData\Local\Temp\6d83f6cb3a3cf259910870b5691c\
[5/26/2022, 14:24:6] Extraction took 406 milliseconds
[5/26/2022, 14:24:6] Executing extracted package: 'vs_bootstrapper_d15\vs_setup_bootstrapper.exe '
with commandline ' --env "_SFX_CAB_EXE_PACKAGE:C:\Users\tedla\Downloads\VisualStudioSetup.exe _SFX_CAB_EXE_ORIGINALWORKINGDIR:C:\Users\tedla\Downloads"'
[5/26/2022, 14:24:21] The entire Box execution exiting with result code: 0x0
[5/26/2022, 14:24:21] Launched extracted application exiting with result code: 0xc0000135
[5/26/2022, 14:24:21] === Logging stopped: 2022/05/26 14:24:21 ===

I'm not sure which CLR error message you mean. The error message "Could not locate appropriate CLR version. Try rebooting, reinstalling. Failure calling VsHookCLRLoading." was in ActivityLog.xml written by VisualStudio 2022, which, of course, is gone.

Thanks again,
Ted

Answer 5

Good morning!

I discovered that Corel Draw no longer works because it could not find mscoree.dll It seems possible this is related to the VS installation problem.

Do you have any suggestions?

(I'm currently doing housecleaning and backups in preparation for more aggressive repair attempts.)

Thx,
Ted