"setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application." when trying to run Visual Studio 2005's setup.exe from a network share on the same computer

Question

Hi.

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with the latest critical Microsoft Updates.

Workgroup: WORKGROUP

D:\ is my dvd drive

E:\ is a virtual drive SlySoft's Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.4.0

1. mount "D:\EN_VS_2005_VSTS_TRIAL_DVD.iso" to E:\

2. share E:\ as e

3. try to run \\localhost\e\vs\Setup\setup.exe

You will get the error message "\\localhost\e\vs\Setup\setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application."

However, if you try to do the same thing and but run setup.exe from a different computer, it works as expected.

I noticed that the icon of setup.exe looks different inbetween both scenarios.

Running the unc path of setup.exe from the command line will display that error message and also display "Access is denied." on the console.

Running process monitor shows the following relevant entry:

Date & Time:    4/7/2010 4:56:54 PM
Event Class:    File System
Operation:    QuerySecurityFile
Result:    ACCESS DENIED
Path:    \\localhost\e\vs\Setup\setup.exe
TID:    1012
Duration:    0.0003307
Information:    Label

I have tried to turn off the windows firewall for the domain, private, and public profiles but I still experience the same issue.

(Public profile is active)

I am installing Visual Studio 2005 in unattended mode and this requires running setup from a network share.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

 

P.S. I had previously asked the same question in the Windows 7 forum and was re-directed to ask my question here.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itpronetworking/thread/24f46876-3d73-4f27-a8cc-ea9909985091

Answer 1

Hi Rami_,

Thank you for your post.

For your concern, it is not recommended to install Visual Studio products via network share. It might cause some possible cause. Thus, could you please copy the entire installation folder to your local disk to do the installation?

Hope this helps! If you have any concern, please feel free to let me know.

Best regards,
Yichun Chen

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Answer 2

Hi.

Thank you for the reply.

I need to install Visual Studio 2005 silently\unattended and this approach has worked in the past on Windows XP.

I noticed the setup.exe's code signing certificate is expired; could this be the reason Windows 7 indicates it is "invalid"?

Answer 3

Hi Rami_,

Thank you for your reply.

To perform silent install of Visual Studio 2005 for network sharing, you might refer to the following helpful blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/03/19/555326.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/articles/551674.aspx

I noticed the setup.exe's code signing certificate is expired; could this be the reason Windows 7 indicates it is "invalid"?

As far as I know, it would not be caused by Windows 7. Could you please check the following KB to get more useful help?
Please see: http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=925521

Hope this helps! If you have any concern, please feel free to let me know.

Best regards,
Yichun Chen

---

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.
Welcome to the All-In-One Code Framework! If you have any feedback, please tell us.

Answer 4

Thank you.

I am now thinking that it might be an issue with SlySoft's Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.4.0.

As a work-around, I am copying the files on the dvd to a local directory and pointing to its unc path to perform the installation.

 

Thanks again.