Installing Microsoft Visual Studio


 * This tutorial explains the steps to install the latest version of Microsoft Visual Studio Express Edition.

Any of the four Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition IDEs could be installed for free from the Download Website for Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition. This includes: Alternatively, the All in One DVD could be downloaded as an .ISO file, burned to a DVD, and installed on the machine.
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition for Visual Basic
 * Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition for Web development
 * Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition for C++
 * Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Express Edition for C#

Requirements

 * Software
 * Operating System: Microsoft Windows:
 * Vista
 * XP Service Pack 2
 * Server 2003
 * Architectures1:
 * x86 (32-bit)
 * x64 (64-bit)
 * Hardware
 * Minimum
 * CPU: 1.6 GHz
 * RAM: 192 MB
 * Display: 1024x768
 * HDD Rotations: 5400 RPM
 * Recommended
 * CPU: 2.2 GHz
 * RAM: 384 MB
 * Display: 1280x1024
 * HDD Rotations: 7200 RPM
 * Recommended (Vista)
 * CPU: 2.4 GHz
 * RAM: 768 MB
 * Display: 1280x1024
 * HDD Free Space: 1.3 GB
 * HDD Rotations: 7200 RPM
 * Other
 * Windows Live ID (For registration)

1 - while the CPU Architecture (x86/x64) is technically a hardware feature, an x64 CPU is capable of behaving like an x86 CPU if the Operating System installed was an x86 OS.

Note that the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 requires the .NET Framework 3.0, however, if the .NET Framework 3.0 isn't detected on your machine, it will be downloaded and installed automatically.

Separate Editions
Recommended. All Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition products can be separately downloaded in a web install interface. Simply select the product you want, choose the appropriate language (English is, of course, recommended), and click on the download link. You will now be prompted to download a ~2.6 MB file. Save the file to disk, and run it.

The All-in-One DVD
The All in one DVD .ISO file could be downloaded from the same Download Website. The downloaded ISO file must be saved to disk and burned to a DVD disc using appropriate disc burning software.
 * For more instructions on how to burn an ISO file onto a DVD disc, see Burning ISO Files

Running the Install File
Whether you downloaded and burned the entire DVD of Microsoft Visual Studio or simply chose to download the versions you need, the installation process is generally similar. For the DVD, simply put it in and allow the autorun to work. As for the web install, simply run the file you just downloaded.

In default Windows Vista configuration, running the installer will provoke a User Account Control prompt since the application needs to Run as Administrator with elevated permissions. Do NOT run the installation in compatibility mode, this will trigger other installation errors.

After running the setup and agreeing to the EULA, you will be prompted to choose which components you would like to install, as shown in the figure to the right. For the web install, it is recommended that you leave everything unchecked (unless you have a fast internet connection), since the "components" in this stage of installation are all MSDN Documentation which could be found on the MSDN website. If you're running the DVD Install, then all the documentation is already available (as it has been downloaded with the ISO), so it is only a matter of disk-space rather than time consumption.

After completing this step and choosing the installation directory, the installation process begins. For the web install, all selected components will first be downloaded and then installed. In the DVD all-in-one installation, this stage is skipped and all components are immediately installed. When the installation process is complete, you are greeted with the completion dialogue, and finish the installation.

Registration
It is recommended that after the first run of the software, you Register your copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 for free. Each product (or, sub-product) of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition can be registered through the MSDN website for free. To register, simply click on the help dialogue and choose Register Product.

This process will open a new dialogue asking you to enter a registration code, and also provides a hyperlink to the registration page. Since you still didn't go through the process of registration (and hence have no registration code to provide), you must click on the registration hyperlink. This will launch the MSDN registration website.

Enter your personal information and then proceed to sign in using your Windows Live ID. By the end of the web registration process, you will be provided with a registration code. Enter that registration code in the previously opened dialogue and continue. This will fully register the product.

Note: the process needs to repeated separately for all installed products of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition

You are asked to install Windows XP SP2 on Windows Vista
This is a result of running the software in compatibility mode. It is not necessarily true that you have selected run in compatibility mode, the software might have decided to run under compatibility mode if it fails to install previously and asks you to reinstall with the recommended settings (which triggers the software to run in compatibility mode).

Simply right click the setup file, choose properties, go to the compatibility tab and uncheck the "Run in compatibility mode" option, and try again. If the option is already unchecked, or if the same errors recurs after trying again, then the compatibility mode settings might be located in the registry.

To edit the registry key, navigate to: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers Different keys will exist, choose the one that includes the path to the setup file you just downloaded and delete the key entirely.