How To Prepare for and Perform a Clean Installation of Visual Studio 6.0

This article addresses some of the common causes of failed installations of Visual Studio and some of the troubleshooting steps that are commonly taken to resolve these issues.

Many times after a failed installation, it is important to "clean up" registry entries and files before attempting another installation. It is recommended that you follow the steps in this article in the order listed to prepare your machine for a clean installation of Visual Studio 6.0.

Although this document refers to Visual Studio, it should be noted that it also applies to the individual applications that come with Visual Studio (Visual Basic, Visual C++, and so forth). Most problems that occur within a Visual Studio setup can be avoided by disabling all applications and processes running in the background prior to starting the Visual Studio setup.

Some of the steps outlined in this article lead to your being prompted by Windows to restart your computer. When you are prompted, always allow Windows to restart so that your computer can be updated successfully.

Any third party plugins, objects, controls, service-packs, or projects related to Visual Studio applications should be backed up or uninstalled before following these instructions.

There have been some cases where multiple installation attempts were not successful while anti-virus products were installed. After a successful installation of Visual Studio components and re-install of the anti-virus application, the products co-existed without complications. You'll have to make that decision for your own machine, but definitely close all anti-virus related applications prior to proceeding.

Check the version number of the Vmhelper.dll file you have on your machine. To do this, click the Start button, point to Search, and click for Files or Folders, and search for the file. Right-click the file and select Properties and then click Version. The last four digits of the version indicates the build of the Microsoft virtual machine (Microsoft VM) that you have on your system. If you don't have this file, you don't have the VM on your machine. You can download the latest build from the following Web site: You will be instructed to install the VM later in this article. If you are not familiar with the VM, you can read the Microsoft virtual machine overview from the following Web site: It is also recommend that you have the latest Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) on your machine. You can download the latest MDAC from the following Web site: Visual Studio 6.0 requires that you have Internet Explorer version 4.01 with Service Pack 1 or later, installed on your computer in order to have access to the MSDN Library Help files. Internet Explorer version 4.72 is on the Visual Studio installation CD 1 in a folder called IE4. To install Internet Explorer from this location, click the Start button, and click Run. Type in D:\IE4\ie4setup.exe in the text box (where "D" = the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive), and click OK. If you have Internet Explorer 5 installed on your computer, you of course meet this criterion already. If you are having any problems viewing the MSDN Library Help files, I recommend that you uninstall and reinstall Internet Explorer. You do not have this option if you have Windows 98 Second Edition.

Click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs. Uninstall any Visual Studio 6.0 applications or components that are listed by highlighting the entry to be removed, clicking the Add/Remove button and following the uninstall process. Repeat this for each entry to be deleted. Do the same for the MSDN Library.

Backing Up Your Registry

• For Windows NT: Sign on as Administrator. From the Start button, select Programs, and click Command Prompt. Type rdisk /s. You will need a floppy disk available to make recovery disk.
• For Windows 98: From the Start button, select Programs and click DOS Prompt. Type scanreg. This will back up your registry on your hard drive. To restore if needed, reboot to DOS and then type scanreg /restore.
• For Windows 95: Locate Eru.exe on your computer and execute this file. If you do not have this file on your system, search your Windows 95 installation CD for Eru.exe, Eru.inf, Eru.txt, and Erd.e_e. Copy these files to a directory on your machine and then Run Eru.exe. You will be prompted to back up registry to a floppy.

Deleting Visual Studio-Related Registry Keys

This section contains information on the Visual Studio-related Registry keys that you need to delete so that you can attempt a "clean" installation of Visual Studio applications.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To access the Registry Editor, click the Start button, click Run, and type RegEdit. The key to be deleted is listed at the end of the path. For example, in the following line Devstudio is the key to be deleted: Delete the following keys that exist on your machine: (You may not have all of these keys.) Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and delete the following:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Devstudio
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\HTML Help Collections
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Visual Basic
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Visual Component Manager
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Visual Modeler
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Visual Studio
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Visual Studio 6.0
  -or-
  MSDN Library
  -or-
  other Visual Studio 6.0 components.

Retract this branch to the top.

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER and delete the following:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Devstudio
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visual Basic
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visual Component Manager
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visual Modeler
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visual Studio
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\StartMenu\&Programs\Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0
  -or_
  MSDN Library
  -or-
  other Visual Studio 6.0 components

Retract this branch to the top.

Go to HKEY_USERS and delete the following:

• HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2127521184-1604012920-1887927527-72713\Software\Microsoft\Visual Studio
• HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2127521184-1604012920-1887927527-72713\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\StartMenu\&Programs\Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0
  -or-
  MSDN Library
  -or-
  other Visual Studio 6.0 components

Close the Registry Editor.

Deleting Visual Studio-Related Directories

This section contains information on the Visual Studio-related directories that need to be deleted so that you can attempt a "clean" installation of Visual Studio applications.

The directory to be deleted is listed at the end of the path. For example, in the line C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio is the directory to be removed.

Open Windows Explorer and delete the following directories that exist on your machine. (You may not have all of these directories.)

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio (or the directory where you installed Visual Studio)
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Designer
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSDesigners98
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSDN
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Triedit
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS98
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Wizards98
  
  

Windows 95 and Windows 98 Users:
In your Windows directory, navigate to Application Data\Microsoft\Visual Studio and delete the Visual Studio folder. Use the following instructions to finish cleaning up the MSDN Library prior to a new installation:

1. From the Start button, point to Find, and click Files and Folders.
2. Search for the following files: Hh.exe, Hh.dat, Hhcolreg.dat, Hhctrl.ocx, Itss.dll, Itircl.dll.
3. Delete all occurrences of these files that you find.NOTE: When you delete these files, you will be removing all MSDN preferences and favorites.

Windows NT 4.0 Users:
In your Windows NT directory, navigate to Profiles\ your login \Application Data\Microsoft and delete the Visual Studio folder. Follow these instructions to finish cleaning up the MSDN Library prior to a new installation:

1. From the Start button, point to Find, and click Files and Folders.
2. Search for the following files: Hh.exe, Hh.dat, Hhcolreg.dat, Hhctrl.ocx, Itss.dll, Itircl.dll.
3. Delete all occurrences of these files that you find.NOTE: When you delete these files, you will be removing all MSDN preferences and favorites.

Windows 2000 Users:
Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\ your login \Application Data\Microsoft and delete the Visual Studio folder. For additional information on cleaning up the MSDN Library prior to a new installation, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
All Users:
Check the file size of the Comcat.dll file that can be found in your Windows\System directory for Windows 95 and Windows 98 users or the WinNT\System32 directory for Windows NT 4.0 users. If the file size is not 22K, replace it with one of the Comcat.dll files from your Visual Studio installation CD 1. Note: This does not apply to Windows 2000 users. Use the following steps to replace Comcat.dll:

1. From the Start menu, click Run, and type regsvr32 /u comcat.dll. You should get a confirmation message that the file was successfully unregistered.
2. Open Windows Explorer, go to your Windows\System or WinNT\System32 directory and rename Comcat.dll to Comcat.old.
3. In Windows Explorer, go to D:\Common\Ide\Ide98\Redist (where "D" is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive), and copy Comcat.dll to your clipboard.
4. Go back to your Windows\System or WinNT\System32 directory and paste in Comcat.dll.
5. From the Start, click Run, and type regsvr32 comcat.dll. You should get a confirmation message that the file was successfully registered.

Delete all files in your Temp directory (typically, "C:\Windows\Temp"). You can do this from within Windows Explorer. If you have specified a different Temp directory, you will need to delete the files from this directory as well.

NOTE: To verify the location of your Temp directory click the Start menu, point to Programs, and click Command Prompt. Type set and press ENTER. Your system's environment settings will appear. Note the path to the folder for TEMP= and TMP=. Type exit at the Command Prompt or close the Command Prompt window and return to Windows Explorer. Delete the files from the directories specified as TEMP and TMP. For Windows 2000 users, click the Start button, point to Programs, and click Accessories and Command Prompt. Perform the same steps as described above.

Empty your recycle bin, and restart your machine.

Windows 95 and Windows 98 Users:
Some CD-ROM drives have difficulty reading some CDs. If this seems to be an issue on your machine, use the following steps to disable Direct Memory Access (DMA) on your CD-ROM drive:

1. From the Start button, point to Settings, and click Control Panel. Double-click the System icon.
2. Click on the folder tab labeled Device Manager and find the icon for CD-ROM.
3. Click the plus ("+") sign next to CD-ROM. The key will expand to show what model CD-ROM you have on your system.
4. Next, highlight the CD-ROM model and click Properties, and Settings.
5. Look for a check box labeled DMA. This box should be clear. If it is selected, clear it, and click OK.
6. Next, click the Performance tab under System Properties and select File System, then CD-ROM. Set the Supplemental Cache Size to one notch above the lowest setting (far left) and set the Access Pattern to No Read Ahead. Click Apply and OK.
7. Close System Properties and Control Panel. Windows prompts you to restart after you close Control Panel.

If you have Windows 95:
It will be necessary to employ patience in performing these steps, as the computer will restart if you press CTRL+ALT+DEL more than one time per sequence, forcing you to repeat the procedure from the beginning after the system reboots.

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL keys to open the Close Program dialog box.
2. Select (one at a time) each application listed in the box except for Explorer and Systray. Click End Task. The Close Program dialog box disappears.
3. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL procedure to open the Close Program dialog box again. It is sometimes necessary to perform the End Task procedure more than once on certain applications. If a box pops up that prompts you to Wait or End Task, select End Task.
4. Repeat the procedure until only Explorer and Systray remain in the window. The reason you need to do this is to unload all other processes from memory. Any running applications, especially anti-virus software, can cause problems with setup.

If you have Windows 98:

1. From the Start menu, click Run. Type msconfig and press ENTER. Under the System Configuration Utility, General tab, select Selective Startup and clear all six options. Click OK.
2. You will be asked to restart the computer. Click OK. When you return to Windows, the screen may look different than it did before because your computer is now in VGA mode. At the end of these instructions you will go to msconfig again and select Normal Startup.

Windows NT4 Users:
Reboot your machine into VGA mode. Log on to the local machine as Administrator (not a user name with administrator privileges). Press CTRL+ALT+DEL, click Task Manager and End Task on all Applications and all Processes except Explorer and Taskmgr. This is particularly important in regards to anti-virus software or utilities packages (such as Norton Utilities) that run any system monitoring applications. When the processes give you a warning, click Yes. If you receive a message that states that you are not authorized to shut down that process, just go on to the next one.

Next, click the Start button, point to Settings, and double-click Control Panel, and click Services. Highlight any Server or other Service that could interfere with the installation and click Stop for each of them.

Windows 2000 Users:
Restart your machine, press F8 at the text screen and choose Safe Mode. Bring up the Task Manager by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL. Click the Processes tab and End Process on everything except Explorer and Taskmgr. This is particularly important in regards to anti-virus software or utilities packages (such as Norton Utilities) that run any system monitoring applications. When the processes give you a warning, click Yes. If you receive a message that states that you are not authorized to shut down that process, just go on to the next one.

Next, click the Start button, point to Settings, and double-click Control Panel. Click Administrative Tools and select Services. Highlight any Server or other Service that could interfere with the installation and then click Action and Stop (or click the Stop Service button) for each of them.

All Users:
At this point, you should have all applications closed and be at the Windows Desktop. If there are any other applications open, close them now.

You can now update the Microsoft virtual machine, which was mentioned earlier in this document, if you desire.

Installing Visual Studio

Next, you may proceed with the installation of Visual Studio applications. Insert the Visual Studio CD into your CD-ROM drive. If Autorun is enabled on your system, the Setup program will launch automatically. If not, click Run from the Start button, and type D:\setup.exe in the text box (where "D"=the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive). Click OK.

If you have had previous failed installation attempts and you are trying to install more than one Visual Studio application, try to install one application at a time. For instance after a successful Visual Basic installation, try installing Visual InterDev.

Once you have completed the Visual Studio application installations, your machine will restart, and you will return to the Setup process where you can install MSDN, InstallShield or any server components that are needed. Please refer to Install.htm or the appropriate readme files located on your Visual Studio installation CD1 for more information about installing each application. For additional information on Visual InterDev installation, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Install the Visual Studio Service Pack 3 after successfully completing the Visual Studio installations. If you do not have the Visual Studio Service Pack 3, you can download it from the following Web site: If you have Windows 98:
After a successful completion of the previous steps, click Run from the Start menu, and type msconfig. Press ENTER. Under the System Configuration Utility, click the General tab, and select Normal Startup and click OK. Click OK when prompted to restart your computer.