Cannot uninstall, install or repair Visual Studio 2012 & 2013

Question

I have Visual Studio 2010, 2012 and 2013 installed, I want to uninstall 2013 however both 2012 & 2013 have gotten corrupted.

However, when I run the install files the installation just hangs.

• For 2012 it hangs at the first component (Microsoft 2012 IntelliTrace Front End x86)
• For 2013 it hangs a little later on .NET Framework 4.51 Multi-Target pack.

2013 will load when the icon is clicked, but crashed.

2012 is nowhere bit is in the Add\Remove Programs or Files window, but uninstalling gives me a dialogue that it might have already been uninstalled and would I like to remove the entry, clicking yes tells me I need admin privileges, however, I am admin.

Now I am stuck, unable to install, uninstall or anything.

I have tried running the following files:

• en_visual_studio_professional_2012_x86_web_installer_2599144.exe
• en_visual_studio_ultimate_2012_x86_web_installer_2599164.exe.exe
• en_visual_studio_ultimate_2013_x86_web_installer_3175337.exe

2012 Professional was there, then 2012 Ultimate and finally 2013 Ultimate.

How to I go about investigating this?

Edit

Even cancelling the setup hangs, I have to kill the tasks.

Edit Both 2012 Professional and Ultimate are in programs and Features, however 2013 Ultimate is not (but is installed and executable, but crashes on the splash screen after loading)

Solution

Try using Revo uninstaller. We use it a lot when a corrupted installion won't remove or repair through the usual methods. It seems to find those odd scattered bits that confuse installers.

Comments

[Ramhound]

Your first statement does not makes sense. If you uninstalled VS2013 of course it wouln't work. Please clarify.

[BanksySan]

@Ramhound It isn't uninstalled, it still fires up when I click the icon. I want to only have 2010 and 2012 on the machine, but en_visual_studio_ultimate_2012_x86_web_installer_2599164.exe‌​, en_visual_studio_ultimate_2013_x86_web_installer_3175337 and en_visual_studio_professional_2012_x86_web_installer_2599144‌​.exe` all hang. I'm not even sure how 2012 professional got on there.

[Ramhound]

What? You don't understand how VS2012 was installed.

[BanksySan]

@Ramhound I know that it was installed by running the installation exe, what else do you mean? I've tried uninstalling 2013, this failed and left the application on the machine. I realised Pro 2012 and Ultimate 2012 were both on the machine so I tried uninstalling these. All of them are hanging. I have tried repairing them, this also hangs. Now I am lost as to how to diagnose and solve the problem.

[Ramhound]

Its not possible to have 2 versions of the same release of VS to be installed at the sametime.

[BanksySan]

@Ramhound Yes, however that doesn't change the fact that I have both Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2012 and Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate 2012 in Programs and Features, neither of which I can uninstall. Also, 2013 Ultimate IS installed, but not not showing in Programs and Features` and runs, but immediately crashes.

[and31415]

I assume Visual Studio 2010 is working fine. Is that correct? Also, have you got any restore points?

[BanksySan]

@and31415 2010 seems to be unaffected (it opens, builds etc.). I can't see any system restore points that the 2012 or 2013 installations might have created.

[BanksySan]

Cheers, I'd already done that. In the end, it was a reinstall of the OS.