Env: Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition on Windows 8
Trying to open Tools --> Extensions and Updates results in the following error in a message box:
Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection.
Parameter name: index
Tried running as Admin, same result.
I've tried looking at the log but nothing mentions that error.
In the log there are 3 error entries related to extensions which could be related, they say the following:
Error loading extension: Could not find a part of the path 'C:\path\to\APPDATA\LOCAL\MICROSOFT\VISUALSTUDIO\14.0\EXTENSIONS\ZW2UF5JV.JVN\extension.vsixmanifest'.
The other 2 are identical except the odd string at the end is HQ1Y5EQD.TMG and 3KWE1LJF.Z1W.
Interestingly, just before those errors in the log appear, there is a line for each saying the extension was loaded successfully but if I try to go to the path it's got listed, it doesn't exist.
I can't find any reference to those strings on my machine. I've also searched the registry but can't find any reference in there either.
I can get into the Extensions manager if I click on one of the update notifications but the original error message just displays in the main pane and I can't do anything else. I can get to the online window but as soon as I click an extension, I am prompted with the original message.
I haven't installed any extensions or VS updates for a while but my Web Compiler extension extension has stopped auto compiling JSX files which is why I started trying to look at the Extension manager. I'm guessing the issues are related.
I can still work, compiling can be done manually which is inconvenient but not the end of the world. My worry is some other extensions are also misbehaving and I just haven't noticed yet.
Don't really want to re-install VS as a) it took ages last time and b) it might not fix the issue. Is there any good advice on troubleshooting the error or anything else I can try before I re-install?
I refreshed the GitHub extension on VS 2015 and got this error. Deleting the two cache files:
extensions.en-US.cache
extensionSdks.en-US.cache
from the AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Extensions causes them to be rebuilt and eliminates the error.
No reinstall needed.
Problem got worse, I started getting the error message when starting Visual Studio and things like the package manager wouldn't load. Each restart seemed to yield a different combination of windows not loading, sometimes Solution Explorer, sometimes Team Explorer etc. Not good.
A repair to VS 2015 via the Control Panel took a while but didn't help, same problems.
I ended up completely uninstalling and trying to re-install. However the installer threw an index was out of range error but weirdly VS 2015 was now listed as an installed application again.
So I'm guessing the original uninstall left some problematic files lying around which messed up the next install. So I uninstalled again, renamed Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0 folder, cleared all files from AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Extensions and re-installed.
It installed and ran fine.
The problem I now had was that I couldn't find the SQL Server Object Explorer window anywhere. I tried repairing SQL Server Data Tools but still no luck. So I uninstalled SSDT and then re-installed. This seemed to fix it.
Now I realised I also couldn't connect to Azure through the Server Explorer window, the option was simply not appearing in the list like it used to. This time a repair to Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 - v2.9 and a repair to Azure App Service Tools v2.9 - Visual Studio 2015 fixed that problem.
I confronted same issue and found this thread. I tried the above suggestions, but unfortunately, it went all unsuccessful. I even tried to uninstall/install with even worse result as Visual Studio became unable to start due to new "missing components" issue. Reinstallation was nothing better.
I finally came by a piece of magic. It was Visual Studio Uninstaller which although would remove all your installed extensions, it would perform a complete cleanup. It would save you from installing new Windows (at least it was my case.
Just go to releases and download the first zip file
This way you will be able to perform clean install of Visual Studio.
I didn't not install Visual Studio 2015 to the C: (it's my ssd drive and its pretty small). I choose to install VS2015 to G: and G drive has died and most of the files do not exist, such as:
G:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0*
I would like to reinstall, but at this point, when I run the uninstaller, I am unable to repair, modify or uninstall VS2015, it fails with error:
"Cannot continue because some of the required components failed."
I am unable to install VS again, because of the same errors. I looked at a force uninstall, but the files do not exists to force the uninstall.
I really don't want to reinstall windows10. Any other ideas?
In my scenario, I had just performed a user migration from one PC to an AWS instance and was not able to use VS 2015 Enterprise edition upon migration. I attempted to run a repair from "programs and features", run setup.exe from the ISO mounted to a drive on windows and even tried to run it from a disk and I couldn't get anything to run. What I had found was a reg key that led me to an idea of how to repair VS from an internal installer. The reg key that I found was:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall{4983E758-4064-3D74-BB77-75C3F86C34B3}
which provided me with an install source for the currently installed version of visual studio. Within this registry key I found the "InstallSource" portion and followed it's location to other installers and uninstallers for Visual studio and other programs found at this location:
C:\ProgramData\Package Cache{14D1CABE-2B5A-3AED-B3A7-42315D062965}v14.0.23107\packages\enterprisecore
From here I went through each of the folders with a listing for v14.0...etc and was able to find the location for the vs_enterprisecore windows installer. From here I right-clicked the installer and ran a repair(you can choose to install, uninstall, or repair).
vs_enterprisecore functions
This allowed me to repair visual studio and inevitably re-update my licensing information on visual studio. Prior to doing this I was receiving a dialog to sign in and that my license was invalid no matter how many attempts I made at logging in with my enterprise issued MSDN account. As you can see below my VS2015 is operational again with Enterprise 2015 setup and is able to check for an updated key once again! This took alot of work, spent at least 8-12 hours working on this to avoid a complete re-image! I hope this helps someone later on down the road!
Visual Studio (Repaired)
I ended up just reinstalling windows, bummer.
You may have to remove any trace of what is left of it yourself. Even though the files of the installation are gone, the registry entries will still be lingering. You could try CCleaner to clean the registry. Typically when there isn't anything left and you try to uninstall from 'Programs and Features', Windows will ask you if you want to remove it from that list.
You can also use Revo, it has a 30 day trial period. CCleaner used to be free and you can still get the free version or a trial I believe.
Edit:
There are also some free ones that attempt to scan for leftovers:
IoBit Uninstaller, also at: Portable Apps
GeekUninstaller - Portable
Wise Program Uninstaller and Wise Registery Cleaner, - Portable Versions: Downloads Page
I had met with the same problem, while I found the solution after 1 day of research.
If you are seeing the fatal error for Built Tools x86. that's where I stuck with.
First of all, remember your previous version of Visual Studio Installed in your PC. And search for online to download the build tools for the specific version of Visual Studio.
Secondly, install the same and try to uninstall VS2015 with force command in an Admin privileged Cmd prompt.
vs_enterprise.exe /uninstall /force
You could find the above file in my case 'vs_enterprise.exe' from the package cache under ProgramData/PackageCache and respective package version number which you need to explore online. If you couldn't find the above simply uninstall vs2015 from Program and features under Control Panel.
When I'm installing Microsoft Visual Studio Express for Windows Desktop I keep getting this error:
Here is the screenshot:
.
Here is the log file: http://pastebin.com/z95nT0st
I use MagicIso to extract the iso vs2013.4_dskexp_ENU. I tried to mount it into virtual disk too.
I fully reformatted my laptop so theres no old version of VS here.
I figured out now why I get that problem.
When I reformatted my laptop, I downloaded recovery software to recover the files I need (visual studio installer and others), and then when i install it, it didnt get installed successfully. So I deleted the file, but I think it already installed some other components of visual studio uncompletely before it fails to installed the vs.
Finally, I downloaded VS shell, and installed it in MVS folder but it fails to install half of it, so when I try again to install the VS, I got different error, it says the VS shell cannot be opened, (so this means I'm right) I get the error because its trying to open the "uncompletely" and continue to install it, but it cannot open it because its "uncomplete".
So now when I type this command G:\wdexpress_full.exe/uninstall/force in cmd, it deletes all the remnants of VS and then it fix my problem.
Most likely you have downloaded a bad image. Download it again.
As an aside why not use the VS2013 Community Version?
I've tried to install Visual C# 2010 Express edition onto my PC, but whenever I try to run it, I get a error message.
Invalid license data. Reinstall is required.
I've already tried reinstalling it, and the message persists.
OS is Vista Home Premium. I already have VC# 2008 Express installed.
I am using Visual Studio 2013 and I have the same issue but it occurs when I try to open a solution that was made using Visual Studio 2010.
The solution for me is to open the solution file (.sln), using notepad and change this line:
[# Visual Studio 2010]
to this:
[# Visual Studio 2013]
I just right-clicked, and opened with Visual Studio XXXX (in my case 2015). Then save it. Done.
I have the same problem with Windows 7 Pro. Have tried everything suggested by the Microsoft people, including uninstalling, cleaning up, reinstalling both from the web installer and the VS2010 Express iso - with the same result every time.
To say it's frustrating is an understatement and the disinterest from Microsoft in fixing what appears to be a common problem (you can find lots of search engine 'hits' for the problem, none for a solution) is quite unbelievable.
Since this is virtually a virgin Win7 install, the only conclusion is that MS have broken their licesing checks again (why check for a license on a free product?).
Edit: Following further investigation I have concluded that the advice given by Microsoft is useless and does not attempt to diagnose the problem. It simply assumes a corrupt installation source. I believe that the problem is in fact corrupt permissions/ownership of registry keys. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Licenses and subkeys needs to be owned by SYSTEM with admins having full access. On my affected system the owner cannot be displayed and no permissions are shown when viewed by admin.
I don't have the definitive fix for this so far, as I cannot adequately edit the permissions for the affected registry keys.
Re-installing Windows is an almost certain fix, but also an extremely drastic one.
I have had this EXACT problem with VS2010 Professional Trial / Evaluation download. I can provide clear and concise steps to reproduce:
Set your system clock ahead by 1 day (oops!)
Install the trial software.
Set your system clock back to the correct date.
Start VS2010, you will receive the vague message indicating "Invalid license data. Reinstall is required."
In my case, the resolution was quite simple - set the clock back ahead to the wrong date. The next day, I was able to set the clock back to the correct date and continue using the product.
Based on other answers to this question, it would appear there are numerous reasons that you could receive this message. This specific issue is most likely to be encountered by someone with a "virgin" install of Windows since it is not so difficult to set the clock incorrectly when setting up a new computer and then fix it later (and if you fix the clock hours after installing the product, it might be hard to put it all together and realize what happened).
Hope this helps someone else.
I had this issue but I was able to resolve this by right clicking and using Run as Administrator. This boots up the program just fine.
This worked for me on Vista. It's based on work-around at MS: http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/520110/invalid-license-data-reinstall-is-required
Download subinacl command line tool
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/confirmation.aspx?FamilyID=e8ba3e56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&displaylang=en
Run these commands:
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Licenses /setowner=everyone
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Licenses /grant=everyone=f
Start VS 2010 Express again and this time it asks for a license key.
(On Windows 7 Home I had to run the above commands twice before they worked correctly)
I got the problem when instelled MS SQL 2012 with IngegrationService, the MS Visual Studio 2010 (Isolated) was installed from sql installer .
This VS returned error: Invalid license data. Reinstall is required.
I've fixed the problem by reinstalling SSDT with MS VS 2012 (Integrated)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/jj650015
I had this problem when installing a new SQL Server 2012 standalone Server.
Cause: When installing SQL Managemnt Tools it will install the VS Shell. It seems like this is all you need but this ist not enough! (it actually shows it will install VS)
Strangly the path and the application are shown in windows put you can't open them without the error.
Fix: You need to also install "SQL Server Data Tools" via Feature Add with the SQL-Server.iso
Hope this helps someone... i took me quite a while.
I get this error only when trying to open older solution files. For instance, I've got VS2013 installed and this error message pops up when I double click on a VS2010 solution file.
Getting rid of it is so simple:
Launch VS2013
Open the old solution file by clicking
"File->Open->Project/Solution..." from the menu (or simply by
pressing Shift+Ctrl+O)
Save the solution with the new format by clicking "File->Save
Solution As..." and overwrite the old file.
It appears that this has been reported as a bug, but has been closed as "Not Reproducible". One suggestiong from the Microsoft supporter is to redownload and reinstall:
Please try downloading the complete ISO from http://www.microsoft.com/express/Downloads/#2010-All, mount it as virtual drive. Then execute Visual C# setup from the ISO media and select an option to remove the product. Once the Visual C# has been uninstalled, please try installing it again from the ISO media.
It sounds a bit far fetched to me, but you might want to give it a try.
If that does not help you, I would suggest that you either post a new bug report to Microsoft or vote to reopen the existing one (I am not sure if/how this is possible).
I have faced this problem when installing the Visual studio 2010 - C# express using the local administrator account, then trying to register the application using another account that doesn't have Admin privileges, due to corporate polices this account can’t edit in the Registry by any means, so suddenly that’s how I figured out how to solve this issue I open VS 2010 as a local administrator then entered the registration key, and it is worked , I don’t understand how do that Microsoft itself didn’t mention this solution or even try hard to investigate or solve this issue
I just encountered this problem on a virgin install with a system that has a bad clock battery (when I turn off the power, it resets the date/time. Syncing to time.windows.com again allowed me to run VS2010 successfully.
It was not the clock for me, and all the hours spent re-downloading and reinstalling were a waste of time (except for the last one, of course....).
Also, for some odd reason, just adding Read permissions to the HKCR node using psexec -i -s regedit did not work by itself.
To fix my problem on Windows 7, I made sure (using psexec -i -s regedit) that my login account had full control permission over every node in the registry and that the everyone group had read permission over every node in the registry, and did all of the steps in the following link (rebooting after each step):
http://windows.microsoft.com/troubleshootwindows7sp1
This is probably overkill, but after spending 10+ hours trying to get this working, I am just happy it works... Good luck!
I was stuck for several days with the same problem. Investigating the registry i found several keys in HKCR were i was denied access even as adminstrator. Among these keys were the Licences key. Tried a lot of things to resolve this access problem but could not fix it.
Finally i worked around this problem with a reinstall of Windows 7 - choosing the Upgrade option when prompted to choose between upgrade or a fresh install. Had to reinstall video drivers but all my programs and user accounts survived.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Installing-and-reinstalling-Windows-7
After the upgrade i have access to the HKCR\Licenses again and Visual Studio 2010 starts as expected.
I had this problem and finally got passed it. I tried the solutions above to no effect. (I set my license keys to open permissions, set my clock forward, etc.) After two days I gave up...
In the end, I installed VS 2012 Express, which could handle VS 2010 solutions but could not compile 2010 code (without a COFF error). After finding this article on requiring VS 2010 to be installed to compile 2010 solution in VS 2012, I reinstalled VS 2010 even though I assumed it wouldn't work on its own. I tried opening 2010 anyway and it worked!
Analysis: as per the previous correct note by reece (and the original workaround author), I used ProcessMonitor to see what devenv.exe tries to do and fails.
Unfortunately, it was attempting to read a number of reg keys which were not under the Licenses node (so it wouldn't have been enough to take ownership of the latter with subinacl). Furthermore, even after taking ownership, the affected keys still yielded "ACCESS DENIED". Doing it as Administrator was equally useless. Plus, Visual Studio didn't fall for any date change nonsense either.
Solution - Don't try this at home :D though: I downloaded pstools and ran psexec -i -s regedit to get System privileges, then I changed permissions on the entire HKCR node to allow Everyone to Read (:P what can I say, viva el comandante).
I want to point out that adding "Everyone" to have read permissions on HKEY_Classes_Root did fix this issue for me.
I am not sure exactly what permission is needed, but this "worked for me" ... YMMV
This may also occur if you are trying to invoke an xml file instead of the exe application.
An another solution I have found to work is the one mentioned Mac by over at SuperUser: https://superuser.com/questions/651261/how-do-i-fix-an-invalid-license-data-reinstall-is-required-error-in-visual-s
When simply reinstalling the Visual Studio 2010 shell doesn't work, he points out that installing it through SSMS 2010 can solve the problem:
I was able to resolve my issue without making any manual changes to
the Windows Registry by installing SQL Server Data Tools 2010, which
is also free and includes the Visual Studio 2010 Shell.
You don't have to go through the entire install process. I cancelled the process when it was done installing the shell and it worked our fine.
If you're here from Google and are experiencing this issue with GFI MailEssentials's config export tool, check to make sure you aren't trying to open WebMon.SettingsImporterTool.exe.xml instead of WebMon.SettingsImporterTool.exe
If you have "hide common file extensions" enabled, you will see the .exe but not the .xml
Just happened to me with a new install of Visual Studio 2010 ultimate in a new computer.
This new computer had the internal time correctly set, but the date was set to one day late. I installed Visual Studio 2010 with the incorrect date. Then, I noticed of the incorrect date and changed it by sync'ing with a NTP server, and from that moment Visual Studio 2010 would not work... so I'll have to stop using Visual Studio 2010 until DateTime.Now > installationDate.
I met the same problem yesterday.And I fixed already.
Please follow the steps:
Run setup.exe again; Change or Remove Microsoft Visual Studio 2010;
Upgrade license Key (Enter new license key); Complete.
GOOD LUCK !
To everyone who has internet connection. Don't mingle with your
registry it's just a waste of time. Set your CMOS clock right then
just click on the button that say's "Obtain registry key online" fill
up the form(two fields are only required) then the registry key would
show up to your screen then just copy and paste it. then everything
works fine. sorry I can't post any images I still need to earn more points...
Background: Visual Studio 2012 Pro installed by Administrator account.
As "Joe User" (member of Win 7 Users group, but NOT Adminstrators) I got the error message.
On reading this forum I concluded this is a generic error message.
Steps to fix:
As an adminstrator, open HK_CLASSES_ROOT.
Open context menu on the Licenses subkey
Select Permissions...
Set Full Control for all users.
Now log on as "Joe" again.
Voila!
Next, as Administrator change the permission on HKCR/Licenses back to read only for Users.
Two hints for developers.
If you can develop and run an application as an ordinary user, then presumably your poor
clients don't need admin rights to run it either.
Don't leak security information in "helpful" error messages. Microsloth are probably following their own advise and giving a vague and unhelpful error message here.
I have no idea why changing the permission to FC then back again to the original setting worked. I can only assume the Visual Studio writes something to that key the first time it runs.
While none of the above solution worked for me (else than running the application with an other username),Renaming the application folder in %appdata% fixed the porblem for me.
"C:\Users...\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MS Project"
I had this issue while installing dynamic ax setup in VM, while installing it was showing me to 'licence is not valid, Reinstall visual studio shell 2010 version', so i uninstalled the visual studio shell 2010 version and its following component and tried to install again the AX admin it worked.
I'm having this problem with Visual Studio 2015 installed.
ramonsantana over at forum.unity3d.com had the solution for me: https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/if-anyone-is-having-visual-studio-shell-2010-invalid-license-data-reinstall-is-required.298824/
Copied here for reference
Use regedit go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and look for Visual Studio.DTE
Since i have Visual Studio 2015 CTP installed i have 3 DTE, one is
VisualStudio.DTE, the other Visual StudioDTE.10.0 and
VisualStudio.DTE.14.0 Go to VisualStudio.DTE.14.0 ( or whatever
version of Visual studio you have installed) and click CLSID.
Copy the
Default (Double click Default and Copy the key inside), now go back to
Visua Studio.DTE and double click the Default there and paste the key
you just copied.
Almost there
On VisualStudio.DTE go to CurVer and
double click the key there to Edit it. Change the 10.0 in the end to
12.0 or 13.0 or 14.0, depending on what version of Visual Studio you have and you are done.
Installing SQL server data tools for visual studio 2010 did it for me! SSDT has an VS2010 IDE along with it, which overwrites the required registry entries.
You can find SSDT here.
My problem:
VS works fine, but when I create new Solution Setup and Deployment it make Setup file but when I run this Setup file, it say: "Invalid license data. Reinstall is required."
subinacl do not work.
My PC:
OS: Windows 7 64bit.
Visual Studio 2012
My way:
Close Visual Studio
Run regedit.
Pull down HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Looking for Licenses
Right click on Licenses -> click Permissions... -> click Advanced -> click User you want edit -> click Edit -> choose This key and subkey -> check all Allow: Full Control, Query Value, SetValue, Create Subkey, Enumerate Subkeys, Notyfy, Create Link, Delete, Write DAC, Write Owner, Read Control... -> check Apply these permissions to objects... -> click OK -> click OK -> click OK -> Close Registry Edit
Start VS
Hope this help
This was my problem with my Visual Basic Net 2005.
This is how I got it solved:
Click start :-> type run (Or press win+r)
Type regedit
Click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Click Licenses
Double click (Default)
Clear all text written in Value data field
Press Ok
Run again Microsoft visual studio
Believe it or not, I have found cases where this problem occurred due to a build error when the build error was due to an error in xcopy in the pre-build events.
We had this problem at a colleges computer, and after trying everything here we set to forget it and fix the error from xcopy. When this was fixed the Visual Studio 2010 shell error stopped popping up, for some reason.