Multiple Install/Uninstall Problems

Windows 7 RC 64-bit, Build 7100

I've been having multiple problems with installing, uninstalling, and using applications in Windows 7. This was my original post:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/281947/can-i-use-visual-basic-2008-express-with-windows-7-rc-x64/

But I'm still having trouble with it and other things. To summarize:


1) Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition cannot create projects. Whenever I try, I get the message "Project Creation Failed".

2) I tried uninstalling, reinstalling, and repairing VB2008EE, but it wouldn't work. Setup kept giving Error 2330, which said something was wrong with the "package". As I said in the other thread, there seemed to be a corrupted folder involved, so I reinstalled VB2008EE in a new location. It seemed to be successful.

3) ...except when I tried to use it. I still get "Project Creation Failed" in the new install.

4) I had Access for MS-Office 2003 installed. Windows Update downloaded, but could not install, two recent updates for Office. 2003.

5) I tried reinstalling the other apps of Office 2003, but I got Error 1317, where it couldn't access a folder. I ran the Windows Install Clean Up Utility, and now instead I get Error 1402, Setup cannot open the registry key UNKNOWN\....... Please note that they had been installed once before.

6) The error message for many of these problems refered to folders that, on close inspection, did not exist! I suspect that the whole installation process is at fault. I wondered about the installtion software itself. I read that the only version of Windows Installer that works on Windows 7 is Version 5.0, but in my Control Panel "Unistall or Change a Program", there's no version of Installer displayed. And it doesn't seem to be available in the Microsoft Download Center.

Some errors, and some other forums, suggested that I don't have the correct permission to certain folders and registry entries, but I've checked the permissions several times.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Edited by shawnvw, 01 February 2010 - 01:27 AM.

Considering the Windows 7 RC is going to start shutting itself down twice an hour starting March 1st, it'd probably be a good idea to format/reinstall the final version anyway. It's quite possible that some (if not all) your issues are caused by bugs in the pre-release version of Windows.

The errors you are getting with the Visual Basic .NET Express Edition 2008 installer are direct error codes from windows installer. Error code 2330 indicates "Error getting file attributes: [3]. GetLastError: [2].", meaning Windows Installer itself is damaged. I'm not entirely sure how one can reinstall Windows Installer on Win7... perhaps somebody else here does.

If you have made a habit of using the "Windows Install Clean Up Utility" on a regular basis, it's entirely possible that is the problem. This tool is designed for as-a-last-restort use, and it is capable of nuking dependent packages from Windows Installer's database without verification. This will break any package which depends upon what you remove. If you've used it on Office components, upon which Visual Studio 2008 depends, it's likely you have broken Windows Installer's ability to do anything to Visual Studio with this tool.

The reason Windows Installer itself does not appear in the Add/Remove Programs dialog is because Windows Installer is a windows component. The only time you will ever see it under Add/Remove is when you have installed a later version than comes with the operating system itself. You aren't going to be able to find the correct installer for you machine, because you are running a pre-release copy of Windows.

Hope that helps,
Billy3

Thanks for the explanations. I only used the Installer Cleanup twice: once for VB and once for Office, since they were the ones giving me problems.

It may be days or weeks before I can upgrade to the final version of Windows 7. Not having VB would be annoying, but having Office is crucial. Is there any way I can get it working?

By the way: Windows 7 RC will be shutting down every 2 hours, not every 30 minutes. "Still annoying enough," as it says in your link.