Missing vc_runtimeminimum_x86.msi and installation won't work
I ran into this problem as well on a recent build of Win 10 + trying to install latest VS Community. When I entered this state, things appeared to be super broken. Here's the sequence of events that I took which finally worked:
- In the installed, select to "download all packages and then install"
- Attempt installation
- See the popup
- With the popup still up, go here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed and download the tool
- Open the tool and then select "Uninstall" on the page it says "do you need help installing or uninstalling"
- On the next page with the list, select Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 (whatever) and hit next to "Try Uninstall"
- Repeat steps 5 - 6 until I didn't see any "Microsoft Visual C++ 2015" left in the list. Note that the popup is still showing.
- Close the popup
- Pause the install and Resume it.
- I didn't see the pop up again and it appears to have installed correctly.
If you're coming here a year after the solution was marked without any resolution, try that and see if it works around the issue for you.
Here are some other things I tried which didn't work for me. If the above didn't work for you, maybe try some of the following which I collected through some searching:
- Going to C:\Program Data\Package Cache, searching for the msi package, giving the installer the literal path to what I found. Installer complains "wrong version"
- Using https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed after the install failed and then repairing (same error).
- Uninstalling VS 2015 packages after install failed and repairing (same error).
- Ignoring the error. When I did this, VS didn't have any templates installed and devenv /installvstemplates didn't solve this.
Go to Control Panel--Programs and Features, uninstall the Visual C++ 2015 Redistribute items.
After that, run the tool: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed. Re-run the VS 2017 installer as administrator, then click the icon besides 'Launch' and choose 'Repair' to repair the VS 2017.