Microsoft Visual C++ Express 2010 - "Project Creation Failed"

Question

In Microsoft Visual  C++ Express 2010 a "Project Creation Failed" message appears after attempting to create any C++ Project.  I have uninstalled and re-installed several times.  I have been a Visual Studio VB/C# user fro years with no issues until now.   I have seen a lot of traffic on this for the 2008 version but the solutions don't seem to track to 2010.  Anyone know of the final answer on this?

Answer 1

Hi ODaySailor,

 

Welcome to the MSDN forum.

 

Since I do not know which suggestion you have tried, I will list as more as possible suggestions I can find. The problem “Project Creation Failed” would be caused by many different reason.

 

First, have you applied Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1? If not, please update to Service Pack 1: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=210710

 

Second, I recommend you check the registry permissions: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vssetup/thread/9bf539f4-f81a-4f01-b07a-5da452e853bf

 

Third, I recommend you launch Visual C++ 2010 Express as administrator. To do so: Right click>>Run as administrator. Furthermore, you also can create a new use account with administrator and try launching via administrator to avoid account corruptions.

 

Then, you also can try some devenv command lines:

• Try running VCExpress.exe /Resetsettings in Command Prompt to eliminate the cause of corrupted settings.
• Try running VCExpress.exe /Safemode in Command Prompt to see if you can apply it correctly. This can eliminate the possibility that third party Add-ins or packages are causing problems.
• Reboot the machine into Safe Mode. This can isolate some third party application/driver's interference.

 

Next, I recommend you try to open some Visual C++ project or solution to see if Visual C++ 2010 Express can open it.

 

Next, try suggestions listed on this page: http://www.thedeveloperspoint.com/?p=44

Although this article is for Visual Studio 2008, I think it is worthy of being tried. Please search for VSWizard.VsWizardEngine 10.0 in registry instead of 9.0. in my side, I found it in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.10.0, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0_Config\ProgId\VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.10.0, and some other place.

 

I also find a same thread as yours in Microsoft Connect. You can refer to this page: http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/649675/vs-2010-project-creation-failed-on-c-projects

 

I think this page is also helpful: http://www.overclock.net/coding-programming/446180-howto-fix-project-creation-failed-vs.html

Since the version of VsWizard.VsWizardEngine in Visual Studio 2010 is 10.0, please change 9.0 to 10.0 like VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.10.0.

 

If all the suggestions fail, please collect a fresh log for further diagnose. To log all activity to the specified log file when we apply Visual Studio products, we can issue "/log" option to run Visual Studio instance. The steps would be similar as:
Go to Start menu >> Run >> type "VCExpress.exe /log <log path>". Then the log files will be generated in the <log path>. Its name is ActivityLog.xml.

For more information, please check: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms241272.aspx

Additionally, another useful tool is the Process Monitor tool: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processmonitor.mspx which can capture the access log.

Filter on the process name VCExpress.exe in the log so that you see only the related list.
This should give you more info on what are the registry keys/ files being accessed when the error happens.

 

After get the Visual Studio and Process Monitor logs, you can send them to me (E-mail: v-alsun_at_microsoft_dot_com) for further diagnose.
Note: Please attach the link of this post in the mail.

 

If you have any other concerns, please feel free to let me know.

 

Best Regards,

---

Alexander Sun [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us
Get or Request Code Sample from Microsoft
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.

Answer 2

I was having this exact problem with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate (Windows 7 64 bit) which had installed correctly but when I tried to create a new project, I always got the message project creation failed. I couldnt find a solution any where on the internet which worked for me. After debugging, I got the following solution:

1. First try the solution steps mentioned in http://masteranza.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/solution-vs-c-2008-project-creation-failed-bug
2. If the above steps solve your problem well and good or move to step 3
3. Run Regedit as an Administrator. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}\InprocServer32
4. Right click on InprocServer32 .You will notice that only the system account is present. Give Full Control access to the System account if not already present. Now, add your Administrator account (or the account with which you are trying to create the project) and give it Full Control access. Close the Regedit
5. Now try to create a project again.

 

Visual Studio tried to open the above registry key which belongs to McAfee (the antivirus on my system), when creating a project. Not sure why it does this, but as the key has a permission issue, it cannot open it.

Answer 3

Hi dear ODaySailor

I have this problem in my windows 7 x64 and non of solutions on web worked for me. but very accidentally I faced with a problem in my another user on the same computer which was very strange when I want to open any explorer window in that user an error tells me "no such interface supported" and when I looked for the solution it repaired the visual studio problem, too.

the problem was from unregistered .dll files. you have to register them again. in the solution I have found it hints you to re-register all of the dll files on your system again and I have tested it and worked fine for visual studio issue but some other problems like file extension loss occur so I suggest you to re-register just the dll files which are the cause of this problem. some experts should tell us the exact ones.

you may encountered many errors during the process and just neglect them and go forward.

The link which I have found this solution is here:

http://www.joejoe.org/forum/topic/18364-no-such-interface-supported-error/page__st__20

below you can see the solution

"Register all dll files within registry

1) First go Start/Run, and type in 'cmd' to bring up the Command Prompt.

2) Type 'CD \' and hit enter.

3) Type 'DIR *.dll /s /b > regdll.bat' and hit enter.

4) Type 'Notepad regdll.bat' and hit enter.

Now Notepad is going to bring up a list of your .dll files, never mind that for a moment.


5) Now type 'Path' and hit enter to see your current path. It will bring up something like: Path=c:\Windows;c:\windows\Command

6) (supplement your Windows Version, ex: C:\WINNT, or C:\Windows) Now type: 'Path=c:\windows;c:\windows\Command;c:\Windows\Pro g
ram~\Accessories' and hit enter.

7) Verify again by typing 'Path' and hitting enter, and then type: 'C:\WINNT\System32\Regsvr32.exe /s C:\' and hit enter again.

Now, go back to Notepad and if you have Win98 use the replace feature in Wordpad (CTRL + H) or notepad to search for 'C:\' and replace it with this: 'C:\Windows\System\Regsvr32.exe /s C:\'

If you have Win2000, etc. use the replace command in note pad to search for 'C:\' and replace it with this: 'C:\WINNT\System32\Regsvr32.exe /s C:\'

*Be sure to type the replace string exactly like above or it won't work*

9) Use "Replace All" to make the changes to the entire file.

10) When it finishes, save it, exit notepad or wordpad, and return to the Command Prompt.

11) Type 'regdll' and press enter. If you followed the above steps correctly it will now go through and re-register all your .dll files.


An example of a line from my bat is below

"C:\Windows\System32\regsvr32.exe /s C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\IPSEventLogMsg.dll"

You may receive numerous errors during this mass registration, simply clear them by clicking OK or whatever you need to to clear the error and the bat file should continue to run. The process may also seen to hang and become unresponsive. Be patient, go get a cup of coffee, a bawlz or smoke a cigarette. I am confident this will resolve your issue. It solved three for me, one involving media player, one involving the right click screen resolution option in the context menu and one involving the personalize context menu option."