Visual Studio 2015 update 3 not installing (no error or feedback)

Question

Visual studio 2015 update 3 doesn't install. Running vs2015.3.exe briefly extracts some files then does nothing (no install splash screen, no feedback, no errors, literally nothing). Manually extracting the files and running 'SetupLauncher.exe' similarly does nothing. Running it as administrator does nothing also.

I have uninstalled any previous versions of .NET Core and tools previews to no effect.

Does it log errors anywhere? (I'm running Windows 7 Enterprise x64)

Answer 1

Fixed by following what has been mentioned in one of the comments from here:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/2016/06/27/visual-studio-2015-update-3-and-net-core-1-0-available-now/

We are still investigating why some users are not getting the latest VS Update. If you encountered a problem when running “VS2015.3.exe” to install VS Update 3 where it offered you VS Update 2 instead of VS Update 3, you may be able to work around the issue by doing the following:

– Close VS Setup (if it is running)

– Go to “Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features”.

– Double click the “Microsoft Visual Studio 2015” entry.

– Choose “Modify”. VS Setup will download the latest list of optionally installable content.

– At the top of the list of optional items you should see “Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 (New)”. Check it and click the Update button to install VSUpdate 3

Answer 2

In my case the same behavior was caused by fiddling around with the Package Cache directory (C:/ProgramData/Package Cache). I moved it to a different drive before with a junction, but by the time I tried to run vs2015.3.exe, the junction disappeared. When I restored it, the installer was able to run normally, ie VS2015.3 setup is currently in progress.

Answer 3

Here is my case and solution; I installed and uninstalled Visual Studio 2017. I dont know it was caused the problem but after that I was unable to run 2015 setup. When i double click vs_community.exe, Visual Studio Logo appears, it is waiting 1-2 seconds, then disappearing, nothing more. When i check Task Manager, it is looks like running on background. I tried everything, Running as Administrator, deleting some folders in Application Data,... etc.

I found the solution in command prompt. I started cmd as Administrator, and ran setup from there:

E:\>vs_community.exe

And It worked!

Answer 4

I had the same effect on my machine (Windows Server 2012 x64). When I try to modify/change the configuration of my VS2013(!) Installation via "Program and Features" this other Setup crashes, too.

The solution: Turn off .NET Framework 3.5 Feature.

After VS2015 Update 3 is installed, you can enable 3.5 again (or leave it, if there is no old App depends on it...).

(Got that resolution here: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/2016/06/27/visual-studio-2015-update-3-and-net-core-1-0-available-now/ )

Answer 5

If Visual Studio 2015 setup does not show the main screen, this might hint at a problem with .Net. You can get a log by starting the setup with /log c:\\some_directory\\setup.log (You should give an absolute path, since a relative path is resolved using a temporary directory in %temp%\\xyz which unfortunately is deleted immediatly.)

If you have a line

[13E0:1C4C][2016-09-28T09:15:16]e000: Error 0x80131902: Failed to create the managed bootstrapper application.
[13E0:1C4C][2016-09-28T09:15:16]e000: Error 0x80131902: Failed to create UX.
[13E0:1C4C][2016-09-28T09:15:16]e000: Error 0x80131902: Failed to load UX.
[13E0:1C4C][2016-09-28T09:15:16]e000: Error 0x80131902: Failed while running 

you should check your C:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v2.0.50727\\CONFIG\\machine.config file. It might be missing, or corrupted. Wenlong Dong1 has a detailed blog post about a file corruption related to system.serviceModel .