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How to troubleshoot failure to install Document Explorer 2005 during VS 2005 setup

  • Artigo

I have heard from several customers who have run into problems installing Visual Studio 2005 because the component named Microsoft Document Explorer 2005 fails to install and Visual Studio setup quits when that happens. I wanted to give a bit more information about what this component is and where logging information can be found to attempt to track down why this installation might fail.

Document Explorer 2005 is a redistributable package that delivers the 8.0 version of dexplore.exe. This is the help viewer that is used by Visual Studio 2005, and by other products such as the Windows SDK. In previous versions of Visual Studio, dexplore.exe was installed as a part of the main Visual Studio MSI or as a part of the MSDN MSI, but in VS 2005, it was separated into its own standalone package, and it is installed as a prerequisite before the main Visual Studio MSI.

The setup for Document Explorer 2005 uses the same external UI handler as the .NET Framework 2.0 redistributable and SDK (described in more detail in this blog post and in this blog post).

Visual Studio 2005 setup runs the setup package for Document Explorer 2005 in silent mode. In cases where this package fails during Visual Studio 2005 setup, you can run dexplore.exe directly from the folder <VS install disc>\wcu\DExplore\ in order to see the error message that is being generated.

This package creates the following log files in the %temp% directory on a system:

  • dd_dexploreui*.txt
  • dd_dexploremsi*.txt

In both of these cases, the * in the name of the files is a randomly generated ending to ensure that each time you run setup it will create a unique file and not overwrite existing log files.

If you do not get any useful error information by running the setup package directly, it can be useful to examine the contents of these log files. In particular, you can search for the string return value 3 in dd_dexploremsi*.txt and that will usually lead you to the error that causes the setup package to fail.

If you have trouble locating error information, please contact me or leave a comment on this blog post and I will try to help.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 01, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    February 03, 2006
    Hi Samuel - I haven't heard of this issue before, but it is possible there is a bug in dexplore.exe. Killing it should not be a problem in this scenario. If you are able to consistently reproduce this issue, I encourage you to report a bug at http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/productfeedback/ so the team that owns that file will be able to take a look.

  • Anonymous
    February 08, 2006
    I ran into problems installing VS2005 after the .NET 2.0 runtime had already been installed. I uninstalled the 2.0 runtime and the VS2005 install went smoothly.

  • Anonymous
    February 28, 2006
    Do you know about this trouble in Delphi 2005 Architect?

  • Anonymous
    February 28, 2006
    Hi Edwin - What kind of trouble are you seeing with Delphi 2005?  I am not sure I understand what problem you are having or how it relates to the topic of this blog post.

  • Anonymous
    March 10, 2006
    A while ago, I posted an item regarding a possible cause and resolution for 1935 or 2908 errors during...

  • Anonymous
    April 13, 2006
    I had the same problem, but with the Visual C++ Express 2005 edition, by a downloaded ISO file. Unfortunaly, this CD image doesn't contain the 'DExplore' folder, so I'm unable to reinstall it.

    I tried to find the redistribuable package, but didn't found it. How can solve this problem ?

    Note: I've currently a complete setup of Visual Studio.Net 2003, could the dexplore from 7.1 interfer with the new one ?

  • Anonymous
    April 13, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 13, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 16, 2006
    VS 2005 Pro a no-go on Vista64 Feb ctp. Same deal:  Windows Document Explorer.  dd_exploreXXXX file shows Error 1935: error during installation of assembly 'Microsoft.VC80.ATL, type="8.0.50727.42", etc.  WHat is rweally interesting is that many of the logged lines say "(x86)" which should not be the case on my 64bit AMD machine running Vista64.

    And you can't use any Add/Remove programs in Vista because thsi program does not show up in the list of "user" programs OR in the Advanced Windows programs list.

    The machine is a dual boot of XPPro32 and Vista Feb CTP.  Just for laughs I tried installing VS2005 and forcing the install path to the D: drive instead of the C: drive and it worked.   But remember that the D: drive under the Vista boot is actually the xp32's root drive (due to the virtualization of drive letters in a multiboot setup). Even odder is that when I do that I definietly get "(x64)" folders created in the XP32's Program Files folder.

    I don't know how anyone is able to run VS2005 on a "pure" Vista64, it simply will not install for me.  Going back to what works, will check on Vista again AFTER it is RTM ;-)

  • Anonymous
    April 18, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 05, 2006
    my error code is 2908, could someone post the potential cause again? thanks

  • Anonymous
    May 05, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 05, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 22, 2006
    Hi when i´m trying to deploy Vs2005 I get this application event error.

    the description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( .NET Runtime ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: .NET Runtime version 1.1.4322.573- Config parser error: Error parsing C:WINDOWSsystem32URTTempconfigmachine.config
    Parser returned error 0x80070003.

    then directly after i get this one.
    Product: Microsoft Document Explorer 2005 -- The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2337. The arguments are: , ,

    For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

    can you help me?
    best regard
    /johan

  • Anonymous
    June 30, 2006
    Hi Jcarlen - Typically that .NET Runtime event log entry is benign so that probably can be ignored.  Can you please zip and send me the log file named %temp%dd_dexploremsi*.txt so I can try to take a look?  You can send it to Aaron.Stebner (at) microsoft (dot) com.

  • Anonymous
    July 03, 2006
    Hi. I solved the problem.
    It was the Dot NEt 1.1 that needed to be restarted beför VS was installed.

    But i have another problem when running Vs 2005 Team suite as a User i´m getting this message

    The proper type libary could not be found in the system regitry. An attempt to repair this condition faild because you do not have the permissons to write to the system registry or because the libery could not be found.

    I understand that this has to do with that i´m a user but do you know any workaround i working in a school so we are depolying vs to 100 machine it isn´t an option to run around to all coputers logging in as an Admin.

    /Johan

  • Anonymous
    July 04, 2006
    I tried 3 failed times until I found your article.  Followed you suggestion to run dexplore.exe directly on the CD and it installed smoothly with NO error messages.  VS2005 now installed.  Go figure....

  • Anonymous
    July 12, 2006
    Hi Jcarlen - There is an article at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dv_vstechart/html/tchDevelopingSoftwareInVisualStudioNETWithNon-AdministrativePrivileges.asp that describes how to use VS .NET 2003 as a normal user.  I haven't been able to find a similar article for Visual Studio 2005 however.  I would suggest posting the exact error messages that you receive to the MSDN Forums (http://forums.microsoft.com) and see if some other folks have some advice that might be helpful.

  • Anonymous
    October 27, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    October 29, 2006
    Hi Zjm84812 - The .NET Framework 2.0 is a required prerequisite for Visual Studio 2005.  You will need to reinstall/repair the .NET Framework 2.0 before you can install VS 2005.  That would also cause Document Explorer 2005 to fail. What kind of error did you get while uninstalling VS 2003?  The log file %temp%vsmsilog*.txt should show that error.  If you can zip and send it to me at Aaron.Stebner (at) microsoft (dot) com, I will try to take a look and see if I can figure anything out for you.

  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2007
    Where to get Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0 Where to download the .NET Framework 2.0 redistributable

  • Anonymous
    May 21, 2007
    I've got issues during install of SQL2005 BI-dev-studio (=vs2005) It says "the application datafolder for Microsoft document explorer could not be created" and "the application datafolder for Visual studio macros could not be created"

  • Is this critical ?
  • How can I solve this ? (I'm using XP sp2 with a hidden x-drive and a mapped P-drive (refering to this x-drive) Can this be an issue ? )

  • Anonymous
    May 23, 2007
    Hi Alzdba - This error typically means that there was some kind of problem running the action dexplore.exe /setup or devenv.exe /setup during installation.  I would suggest running both of these command lines again manually to try to resolve this issue.  You can find dexplore.exe at C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedHelp 8 and devenv.exe at C:Program FilesMicrosoft Visual Studio 8Common7IDE.

  • Anonymous
    June 08, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 08, 2007
    Hi Dzjien - The error code you are receiving (0x80070020) means that the process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.  You might want to reboot and then try one of the following workarounds to see if they help resolve this issue: http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/11/25/disabling-services-with-msconfig-to-work-around-setup-failures.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/solving-setup-errors-by-using-the-subinacl-tool-to-repair-file-and-registry-permissions.aspx Hopefully one of these will help.

  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2007
    Hi Aaron! Brilliant! Thanx! You just saved me a few more hours of digging......

  • Anonymous
    June 26, 2007
    hi Aaron,       When i was installing visual studio 2005 i encountered the same error and i tried the stuff mentioned in ur blog that is executed dexplorer.exe directly didnt work, then i repaired ms.net framework 2.0 then installed again but didnt work out.In my pc,ms visual J#.net redistributable package 1.1 is installed.It gave me the error first time after successfully finishing installation of parser 6.0 then it gave problem at dexplorer and didnt touch rest of things. that is setup of 2005. I have previously tried to install vs.net 2003 that also gave error after installing all prerequisites.plz get me out of this prblm,it has already taken lot of time.

  • Anonymous
    June 26, 2007
    Hi Puneetgarg - I looked at the logs that you sent me via email, and both VS 2003 and Document Explorer 2005 are failing for the same reason on your system.  For VS 2003, I see the following error: MSI (s) (60:A4) [16:44:25:437]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: G:WINDOWSInstallerMSIB5A.tmp, Entrypoint: BeginTransaction IHxRegisterSession::CreateTransaction() returned 8004036e. BeginTransaction() ERROR: Attempt failed because another transaction was running. For Document Explorer 2005, I see the following error: 06/26/07 18:10:22 DDSet_Status: BeginTransaction()->IHxRegisterSession::CreateTransaction() returned 8004036e. 06/26/07 18:10:22 DDSet_Error: BeginTransaction()->Attempt failed because another transaction was running. Normally, if you reboot your system and try running setup again, it will resolve this error about another transaction running.  If that doesn’t help, I’d suggest trying to use MsConfig to disable unnecessary services and then trying to run setup again.  You can find information about how to do that at http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/11/25/disabling-services-with-msconfig-to-work-around-setup-failures.aspx. Hopefully this helps.

  • Anonymous
    October 10, 2007
    Hi, same problem with VS2008 Beta 2 and Vista x64. I had to repair Document explorer from disc and then it worked. Sven

  • Anonymous
    November 05, 2007
    PingBack from http://cowpowered.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/installing-visual-studio-2005-on-vista/

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2007
    Check for C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersApplication DataMicrosoft HelpRgstrtn.lck. If you don't have another installation process going on, just delete it. http://www.helpware.net/mshelp2/h2reg_FAQ.htm My Office 2007 installation failed few days back and "apparently" it doesn't rollback properly. errrr.... 2 agonizing hours. Hope this helps somebody. Chaitanya

  • Anonymous
    December 10, 2007
    PingBack from http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2007/12/10/6725685.aspx

  • Anonymous
    December 10, 2007
    PingBack from http://msdnrss.thecoderblogs.com/2007/12/10/possible-workaround-for-errors-during-installation-of-document-explorer-2005-and-2008/

  • Anonymous
    March 17, 2008
    Dudes,  I have encountered the same problem, but to my surprise, just running the document explorer application (thats come in the product suite under folder msdnDExploreDExplore.exe) has resolved the issue. Please see whether it can help you out. Further to your note I havn't uninstalled VS as such. When running the DExplore.exe select the 'Repair' mode Thanks and Best Regards Bobby J.

  • Anonymous
    November 08, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 09, 2008
    Hi Ajmm - This 1601 error means that there is something wrong with the Windows Installer service on your system.  I'd suggest first trying to reboot and running the install again. If that doesn't help, you can use the following steps to attempt to repair the Windows Installer service on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 (these steps will not work on Windows Vista though, so there is no need to try them there):

  1.  Click on the Start menu, choose Run, type cmd and click OK
  2.  Run this command:  msiexec /unregister
  3.  Run this command:  msiexec /regserver
  4.  Reboot
  5.  Try to install again If you are running Windows Vista or the above steps do not help, then you may want to try to install Windows Installer 4.5 to see if that helps fix this error.  You can find the download location for Windows Installer 4.5 at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5a58b56f-60b6-4412-95b9-54d056d6f9f4.

  • Anonymous
    November 12, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 03, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 04, 2011
    Hi Charlie - Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/.../6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and post a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look?

  • Anonymous
    January 14, 2012
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 14, 2012
    I found something in google, what maybe has to do with that problem. It's about settings in msql server 2005.  service-configuration-manager --> services They are writing about the settings: local service / local system / network service maybe it's because my settings in msql for services are set on: logging on as local system. I don't know. I guess, the settinhs in VS 2005 are different, so  the installation could not find resp. install to the right place. I dont know much about it - just a beginner... unfortunately i don't got that link anymore...  my browser crashed and i could not find that link again...

  • Anonymous
    January 15, 2012
    Hi 28A79888-B417-43A9-907B-A0C6FAE13542 - Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/.../6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, post the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look?

  • Anonymous
    January 18, 2012
    hi Aaron, thank you for your assistence. I uninstalled everything - and had a lot of trouble :-) Guess, you'll know about those "happenings" :-) Net frame work etc. etc. It's stabil now and i don't change anything at this time again. Nevertheless: I wil follow your advice as soon as i got the time and wil send you the link. Thank you very much. Lothar Peters

  • Anonymous
    January 18, 2012
    O - i forgot something: After i tried to uninstall Visual Studio 2005 and 2010, i recognised, that there are lots of folders left. I can't see any one of these programs, when i looking for installed programms. I didn't try to uninstall them with one of the Microsoft-Tools - ether i didn't delete them manually :-) Anyway: As long as they don't make trouble (as fare as i know:-)   - I don't change anything without help :-) thanks Lothar