Cannot install VS 2015 Community - error "VS 2015 Professional is installed"

Question

I had VS 2015 Professional install on Windows 10 via a company licence. On my home PC it proved impossible to get it working properly. Some of the errors -- trying to create a Universal Windows app, the XAML visual editor would crash. Finally sorted that out two weeks ago. Now, building a WinForms app goes fine. Until you run it. It runs fine. Once you've stopped debugging, trying to do ANYTHING to the apps results in the sort of behavior I'd expect if all the project files were marked readonly -- you can't change anything.

So I want to try VS Community and see if that works for me -- I desperately need to be able to work at home and work, and my employer will not let me get a correctly-setup laptop.

Any assistance would be appreciated.  I don't care what names you call me.  I don't care if you point out that goldfish could solve this problem.  I would just like to solve it.

Oh, and my MSDN cell no is wrong so I can't get my password changed.

Answer 1

You cannot install VS 2015 CE and VS 2015 Professional side-by-side. Therefore you need to perform a complete removal of the Professional version first.

You should force a complete removal by using your VS 2015 Professional ISO distribution, and typing:

vs_professional.exe /uninstall /force

Answer 2

Hi Colin,

Thank you for your post.

For your question, because VS 2015 Professional edition is more advanced than the VS 2015 Community, if you have installed the Professional one, the lower VS edition couldn't be installed on the same machine.

As Brian said, you need to uninstall VS 2015 Professional first with uninstall/force command.

You may refer to the following link about this command:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/heaths/2015/07/17/removing-visual-studio-components-left-behind-after-an-uninstall/

In addition, if you would like to use VS  2015 Community, to eliminate internet variables, I suggest that you download the ISO, verify the SHA-1 to ensure the ISO is not corrupt, then install locally.

VS 2015 iso Microsoft official download link:
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/downloads/download-visual-studio-vs.aspx
VS 2015 iso files SHA-1 Values link:
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/downloads/visual-studio-2015-iso-sha1-vs.aspx

PS: To make sure whether your package is corrupted or not,
please use FCIV.exe http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841290  to verify hash of the ISO.

In order to narrow down the problems of VS setup, there are some tips about installing VS:

You should make sure you’ve followed these tips:  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/vssetup/thread/60f71a54-506e-4c70-be98-e993ce6d1ddf

Best Regards,

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