Visual Studio setup problem - 'A problem has been encountered while loading the setup components. Canceling setup.'

Question

I\'ve had a serious issue with my Visual Studio 2008 setup. I receive the ever-so-useful error \'A problem has been encountered while loading the setup components.

Answer 1

Sure enough, for me, it was the hotfixes. In Add/Remove Programs, check the "Show Updates" box, and remove ALL of the Hotfixes associated with your version of VS2008. Then try the "Change/Remove" button - it should now proceed without a hitch.

Well, it did for me, anyway... ;-)

Answer 2

I had the same error message. For me it was happening because I was trying to run the installer from the DVD rather than running the installer from Add/Remove programs.

Answer 3

In my case, uninstalling from Add&Remove Programs didn't work. Instead, the problem was due to a recently hotfix installed through automatic updates. The hotfix to VS 2008 (in my case) has the number KB952241, so I uninstalled it using Add/Remove Programs checking on the show updates option. After it was unistalled the problem was gone.

Answer 4

Solution to this is

http://www.dotnetzone.gr/cs/forums/48758/ShowThread.aspx#48758

Answer 5

Uninstall hotfixes installed in related to vs2008 and then try again. It worked for me and hopefully it will for you as well.

Thanks, Zelalem

Answer 6

Microsoft itself posted a KB article about this, and that article has a service pack that they claim fixes the problem. See below.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959417/

It took a while for the associated update to install itself, but once it did, I was able to run the Visual Studio setup successfully from the Add/Remove Programs control panel.