Visual Studio 2013 > New project > unspecified error (exception from hresult: 0x80004005 (e_fail))

Question

Can anybody shed any light on the above error? I\'ve tried with both Express and Ultimate editions of VS 2013.

I\'m running 64-bit Windows 7.

Solutions to si

Answer 1

The best solution for this is Open your visual studio "Run as Administrator". If you open your visual stdio 2015 , 2017 as administrator then this problem will not come.

Answer 2

I got the same Unspecified error when creating a new Web Application with MVC. I then tried to install the NuGet Package Manager for VS 2013 and got a little bit more detail on what was happening:

11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -     Supported Products : 
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -         Microsoft.VisualStudio.Pro
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -             Version : [12.0]
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -         Microsoft.VisualStudio.IntegratedShell
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -             Version : [12.0]
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -         Microsoft.VisualStudio.VWDExpress
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -             Version : [12.0]
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -         Microsoft.VisualStudio.VPDExpress
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -             Version : [12.0]
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -         Microsoft.VisualStudio.VSWinExpress
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -             Version : [12.0]
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -         Microsoft.VisualStudio.VSWinDesktopExpress
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -             Version : [12.0]
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM - 
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM -     References      : 
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM - 
11/13/2013 9:16:17 PM - Searching for applicable products...
11/13/2013 9:16:23 PM - Failed to initialize settings for Isolated Shell C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\ManagementStudio\ssms.exe: The network path was not found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070035)
11/13/2013 9:16:23 PM - Found installed product - Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
11/13/2013 9:16:23 PM - Found installed product - Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate 2012
11/13/2013 9:16:23 PM - Found installed product - Microsoft Visual Studio Premium 2012 
11/13/2013 9:16:23 PM - Found installed product - Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2012
11/13/2013 9:16:23 PM - Found installed product - Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Shell (Integrated)
11/13/2013 9:16:23 PM - Found installed product - Microsoft Visual Studio Premium 2013
11/13/2013 9:16:24 PM - System.IO.FileNotFoundException: The network path was not found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070035)
   at System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHRInternal(Int32 errorCode, IntPtr errorInfo)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Settings.ExternalSettingsManager.GetScopePaths(String applicationPath, String suffixOrName, String vsVersion, Boolean isLogged, Boolean isForIsolatedApplication)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Settings.ExternalSettingsManager.CreateForApplication(String applicationPath)
   at VSIXInstaller.App.GetExtensionManager(SupportedVSSKU sku)
   at VSIXInstaller.App.GetExtensionManagerForApplicableSKU(SupportedVSSKU supportedSKU, IInstallableExtension installableExtension, List`1 applicableSKUs)
   at VSIXInstaller.App.InitializeInstall()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()

I tried uninstalling VS 2010 (since I don't use it anymore) with no luck. I then connected to my work VPN and then when opening VS2013 I got a message stating it was looking for my settings file in an odd place:

C:\Users\Zach\\\SomeNetworkServer\something\something

I updated the path for settings under Tools > Options > Import and Export Settings (which was actually the same odd path) and both NuGet and VS2013 now seem to be working correctly.

I have no idea where it got that path but I definitely saw different behavior when I was on my work's VPN vs not.

Answer 3

If you linking to any native/COM libraries,so then change the solution's build target from AnyCpu to x86

Answer 4

I thought I should reply this as well, since I haven't seen my particular solution posted by anyone else... I had this same error when creating a project, and additionally I also was unable to open web projects (I got an error declaring that "Creation of the virtual directory localhost:xxxxx failed with the error: Unable to access the IIS metabase. You do not have sufficient privilege to access IIS web sites on your machine").

As it turned out, I was logged in using my Active Directory account, and the password had expired, and I had changed it on a different machine. However, for some reason, this machine (the one with Visual Studio on it) was continuing to allow me to log in with my old password even though it had expired (Windows 7/x64).

By logging in to my company's VPN, then locking my computer, and then logging in with my new password, I was able to get it to sync the machine to the new password, and this solved both of my issues. My best guess is that when accessing files, Visual Studio performs some permissions checks which Windows Explorer doesn't, and isn't very informative when something goes wrong.

Answer 5

I got this problem because the default folder for new projects is inside a OneDrive folder. Creating the project elsewhere got round the error.

Answer 6

devenv /ResetSettings

worked for me.