Visual Studio 2010 crashes at start - visual-studio-2010

Question

I'm trying to install VS2010Pro. I previously had the VS2010Ultimate trial version installed. I've tried to insert the product key, but it didn't accept it. If i try to install it via DVD, it doesn't install it all. Here's the installation log:
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU is not installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft Office Developer Tools (x64) was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Dotfuscator Software Services - Community Edition was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Crystal Reports templates for Visual Studio 2010 was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft SharePoint Developer Tools was not attempted to be installed.
***EndOfSession***?[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU is not installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft Office Developer Tools (x64) was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Dotfuscator Software Services - Community Edition was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Crystal Reports templates for Visual Studio 2010 was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft SharePoint Developer Tools was not attempted to be installed.
[02/22/21,09:56:50] Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU: [2] ACTION FAILURE:Action ended 09:56:50: ProcessComponents. Return value 3.See MSI log for details.
[02/22/21,09:56:50] Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU: [2] ACTION FAILURE:Action ended 09:56:50: INSTALL. Return value 3.See MSI log for details.
[02/22/21,09:56:53] setup.exe: [2] ISetupComponent::Pre/Post/Install() failed in ISetupManager::InternalInstallManager() with HRESULT -2147023293.
***EndOfSession***?[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU is not installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft Office Developer Tools (x64) was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Dotfuscator Software Services - Community Edition was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Crystal Reports templates for Visual Studio 2010 was not attempted to be installed.
[02/21/21,22:42:46] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft SharePoint Developer Tools was not attempted to be installed.
[02/22/21,09:56:50] Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU: [2] ACTION FAILURE:Action ended 09:56:50: ProcessComponents. Return value 3.See MSI log for details.
[02/22/21,09:56:50] Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU: [2] ACTION FAILURE:Action ended 09:56:50: INSTALL. Return value 3.See MSI log for details.
[02/22/21,09:56:53] setup.exe: [2] ISetupComponent::Pre/Post/Install() failed in ISetupManager::InternalInstallManager() with HRESULT -2147023293.
[02/22/21,10:11:28] VS70pgui: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional - ENU is not installed.
[02/22/21,10:11:28] VS70pgui: [2] Return for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Data-Tier Application Project indicates a failed installation. DepCheck indicates the component is installed.
[02/22/21,11:19:15] VS70pgui: [2] Return for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Data-Tier Application Project indicates a failed installation. DepCheck indicates the component is installed.
After this i've tried to uninstall/reinstall it several times. I've tried using a trial Pro version downloaded from Visual Studio Subscriptions portal. With this, the installation doesn't return any error but still the end result is the same. I've tried a manual uninstallation following this link. Still not working.
I tried to run devenv.exe /resetsettings. The application started and crashed in a few seconds while loading.
I tried devenv.exe /setup (from cmd as administrator) and nothing happened (the application didn't even started).
I've tried to run it as administrator and it crashed.
I've tried devenv.exe /safemode. The application starts and no error is reported until i try to create a new project or open an existing project; then it crashes.
The error reported (often twice in each attempt to open/create a project) is this one:
If i just try to launch VS, it doesn't report the error but it simply crashes after a few seconds during the loading.
Here the result of devenv.exe /log:
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0">
<xsl:output method="html" encoding="utf-16"/>
<xsl:template match="activity">
<head>
<title>Activity Monitor Log</title>
<style type="text/css">
body{ text-align: left; width: 100%; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; } table{ border: none; border-collapse: separate; width: 100%; } tr.title td{ font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; } th{ background: #d0d0d0; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left; } tr{ background: #eeeeee} td, th{ font-size: 8pt; padding: 1px; border: none; } tr.info td{} tr.warning td{background-color:yellow;color:black} tr.error td{background-color:red;color:black} span {text-decoration:underline} a:hover{text-transform:uppercase;color: #9090F0;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table>
<tr class="title">
<td colspan="7">Activity Monitor Log</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">infos</td>
<td colspan="5">
<xsl:value-of select="count(entry[type='Information'])"/>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">warnings</td>
<td colspan="5">
<xsl:value-of select="count(entry[type='Warning'])"/>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">errors</td>
<td colspan="5">
<xsl:value-of select="count(entry[type='Error'])"/>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="20">#</th>
<th width="50">Type</th>
<th>Description</th>
<th width="280">GUID</th>
<th>Hr</th>
<th>Source</th>
<th>Time (UTC)</th>
</tr>
<xsl:apply-templates/>
</table>
</body>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="entry">
<!--
example
<entry>
<record>136</record>
<time>2004/02/26 00:42:59.706</time>
<type>Error</type>
<source>Microsoft Visual Studio</source>
<description>Loading UI library</description>
<guid>{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}</guid>
<hr>800a006f</hr>
<path></path>
</entry>
-->
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="type='Information'">
<tr id="info" class="info">
<td>
<xsl:value-of select="record"/>
</td>
<td/>
<xsl:call-template name="row"/>
</tr>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:when test="type='Warning'">
<tr id="warning" class="warning">
<td>
<xsl:value-of select="record"/>
</td>
<td>Warning</td>
<xsl:call-template name="row"/>
</tr>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:when test="type='Error'">
<tr id="error" class="error">
<td>
<xsl:value-of select="record"/>
</td>
<td>ERROR</td>
<xsl:call-template name="row"/>
</tr>
</xsl:when>
</xsl:choose>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template name="row">
<td id="description">
<xsl:value-of select="description"/>
<xsl:if test="path">
<br/>
<xsl:value-of select="path"/>
</xsl:if>
</td>
<td id="guid">
<xsl:value-of select="guid"/>
</td>
<td id="hr">
<xsl:value-of select="hr"/>
</td>
<td>
<xsl:value-of select="source"/>
</td>
<td>
<xsl:value-of select="time"/>
</td>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Any idea?
Update
I've tried to install it via DVD on another PC (to be fair i've just installed the C# and VB packages cause it's not a machine of mine and it didn't have enouth memory avaiable). It seems to be working on it. So the DVD itself and all its files are fine. My hypotesis is that the previous installation (VS2010Ultimate) is creating some problem. That or my very PC has some other problem of his own. Still no idea what it could be though. I've tried to copy the VsDebugPresentationPackage file, but the application will still not run (it returns another error similar to the previous one). I will try to copy the whole Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0 and Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0 folders.

Answer 1

VS2019 has a free community version, is lightweight to install, and is well adapted to any user, pro and beginners alike. You can have an offline installer.
Which VS version is not about your level or anything, but about features supported, target project, and support (from MSFT). I worked with all VS versions since 2010. It's a utter total nonsense, financially and technologically, to buy VS2010 any version in 2021. You won't have support to updated c# language. Furthermore, likely no company is using VS2010 anymore, eventually VS2015, but surely VS2019 (which includes a VS2015 build toolset). I also believe that one is facing a XY problem; you're trying to install VS2010, but for which purpose ?
I understand that you are starting a new dotnet (c#, f#, vb, etc) project. I also understand that you're using Windows 10 (likely not LTSC); which needs VS2019 in order to target the proper windows sdk if you're using it. In 2021, roslyn and dotnet 5.0 (c#, f#) are the way to go, both are opensource and multiplatform. Therefore VS2019.
Given the errors you get with both VS2010 and VS2019, you might want to try to install them in a virtual machine to confirm or infirm that VS is the cuprit here. It if works, you have likely a crippled Windows 10 installation. If not:
try to deinstall then reinstall VS2010 (avoid repair which can leave problematic elements untouched) ,
you want to search for dirty uninstalled VS2010 elements with the install/uninstall troubleshooter.

Answer 2

1. Try clearing Roaming files:
Browse to the folder C:\Users\Luca\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0 and delete all files and folders inside, and try launching Visual Studio 2010 again.
2. Ensure the latest updates are installed
Check the version of Visual Studio you are using under Help -> About. There was a Service Pack released in 2012; ensure you have this installed.
If you have Team Foundation Server Power Tools installed, others have suggested installing the December 2011 update to fix some compatibility issues with an installed Windows Update item.
3. Try remove and reinstall all installed .NET Frameworks
A corrupt DLL for any of the .NET Framework installation can interfere with Visual Studio opening or creating projects. With the project you are opening, or creating, see what .NET Framework version this is using and try reinstall that framework first.
3. Have you considered using a newer version of Visual Studio?
Visual Studio 2010 is an end-of-life product, and lists Windows 8 as its highest supported operating system. It might be worth using a newer version of Visual Studio if you can.