INFO: Troubleshooting the Visual Studio Service Pack Download

ID: Q175869

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes some common problems users may experience when downloading and installing Visual Studio Service Pack 3.


MORE INFORMATION

1. Scenario: Problem Updating Files

After I completed the Service Pack setup, there were no errors, but it did not seem to update all of my files. I checked the versions of the files listed in the Readme section "Determining the Update History of the Products Based on File Versions", and not all of the products were updated.

Diagnosis and Proposed Solution:

First, check the VS97SP3.log file to see if setup tried to install that file. If there is a log entry, then it was in the Service Pack download and the log file should tell you what went wrong. If there is no log entry, it could mean that the file did not exist in your computer before you ran the Service Pack (the Service Pack will typically not update files you do not already have). The other possibility is that the Service Pack download is incomplete and missing that file.

There can be several reasons why the download was incomplete. If you expand the downloaded files by double-clicking vssp3_1.exe (or vssp3.exe for Visual Basic-only downloads), some error messages will not be visible long enough to read. To solve this:
  1. Delete the Vs97_sp3 directory


  2. Open a command prompt (a DOS window)


  3. From inside the command prompt, run vssp3_1.exe (or vssp3.exe for Visual Basic only downloads)


One possible cause for not getting a complete download is running out of disk space when running Vssp3_1.exe to create the Vs97_sp3 directory tree.

2. Scenario: Destination File Error

When I expanded the downloaded files by running vssp3_1.exe, it gave me the error message:
ERROR: Error creating destination file VS97_SP3\all\vb\vb\vba5.dll from cabinet file VSSP3_1.EXE
Diagnosis and Proposed Solution:

This is probably caused by running out of hard-disk space. The files you downloaded are compressed and running vssp3_1.exe decompresses them into the Service Pack installation directory Vs97_sp3. The uncompressed form can be more than three times as large as the downloaded files. Either free up more hard-disk space or use the /L option to specify some other drive and directory to expand the Service Pack files into: vssp3_1.exe /L x:\temp.

3. Scenario: Problem Finding Setup Executable

When I ran the Service Pack setup, it said it could not find Vs97_sp3\enu\setup.exe.

Diagnosis and Proposed Solution:

The setup routine in the Vs97_sp3 directory is a language-independent starter. This starter setup simply checks what kind of language should be used and then starts the actual setup.exe. There are several different setup routines localized for different languages. The one with English text is \enu\setup.exe.

This problem is another symptom of an incomplete download. Follow the steps in the answer to number 1 above to see the error messages that might help resolve the problem.

4. Scenario: Problem Finding Other Files

When I ran the Service Pack setup, it said it could not find vssp3_2.cab.

Diagnosis and Proposed Solution:

The downloads for CORE, FULL, and VC Alpha are all more than just one file. Be sure to download all of the files for these versions of the Service Pack. Another cause for this problem is if you downloaded the CAB files to a different location than vssp3_1.exe. In that case, simply provide the location of the cab files on the command line where it is displaying the error.


REFERENCES

Q170365 INFO: Visual Studio 97 Service Packs - What, Where, and Why

Q172610 INFO: Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2 Readme

Q170367 HOWTO: Determine VS97 Service Pack Updates in a Product

Additional query words: 


Keywords          : kbVS97sp1fix kbVS97sp2fix 
Version           : WINDOWS:1.0,1.1,5.0,5.0a,97,97sp1,97sp2,97sp3; winnt:5.0
Platform          : WINDOWS winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: April 15, 1999