Problems installing the Windows SDK
We've been getting lots of reports that users have been having trouble installing the Windows SDK. The problems fall into one of two areas.
First are problems installing the SDK on builds of Windows Vista. We've been receiving reports that there's a problem with a Vista API that erroneously causes any files larger than 300MB to appear not to be code-signed when they actually are. The Windows SDK test team has logged a bug in the Windows OS database on this issue. Per the bug, here's the problem:
User can't download the Win Vista SDK because it is too large.
Attempt to download the ISO.
Expected results:
I expect to be able to install the program. Instead, I get a dialog telling me that since it's an Unknown publisher and it won't let me install. There are two problems here:
1) Microsoft Software should be signed and work.
2) Even if it's not signed, I should be able to override this and say, "Yes I know it's from an unknown publisher, but I trust them."
We're hoping that the Vista team will take this bug and investigate a fix.
Part of this problem comes from the fact that the SDK is only available for now as a downloadable ISO file rather than a web executable. With the February CTP, we will be going back to standard web downloads, which should mitigate against the size problem. Our new setup.exe wasn't complete enough to post to the web at the time that the previous CTP got posted.
The other problem that users have seen is that they have a version mismatch when installing the Windows SDK after installing the WinFX runtime. The current theory is that users may have previous versions of the WinFX SDK and/or the .NET Framework installed on the machines on which they're running the installation. The WinFX SDK merged with the PSDK to become the Windows SDK, and I wonder if any of the problems they're experiencing are coming from outdated content. Perhaps users are using the last WinFX SDK release out there (the Beta 1?) which requires the Beta 2 version of FX that causes the problem. Make sure to uninstall the .NET Fx Beta 2 before installing. Instead, install the RTM version of the .NET Framework that you can get from Windows update or by installing the WinFX runtime.
Does that make sense for anyone having this problem?
I will pass on any and all logs received to our setup devs - just click the contact link above. I also recommend using the command E:\Setup>msiexec /package WinSDK-x86.msi /quiet /lv c:\out.log to run the install. It's a way to run the install without using the UI, and also automatically will generate a log. Please ping me if you have any further successes or failures.