Errors Installing the Windows SDK: Please refer to Samples\Setup\HTML\ConfigDetails.htm document

December 11th at 12:00am

While mining the Microsoft Website for any reference to CPUGrab.exe (See my Open Source Replacement CPUGrab.NET) I tried installing the Microsoft Windows 7 SDK. Seemed straightforward enough, until I ran into a string of errors which prevented me from performing a successful installation. Here are the errors I had to overcome to get the SDK to install correctly:

  • C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Setup\SFX\vcredist_x64.exe installation failed with return code 5100
  • [SDKSetup:Error] Config_Products_Install: Windows SDK Setup (failed): Installation of the "Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7" product has reported the following error: Please refer to Samples\Setup\HTML\ConfigDetails.htm document for further information
  • Product: Microsoft Visual C++  Compilers 2010 Standard - enu - x86 -- Installation failed.
  • Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: Microsoft Visual C++  Compilers 2010 Standard - enu - x86. Product Version: 10.0.30319. Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation. Installation success or error status: 1603

This (brief) article explains how to install the Windows SDK and either avoid or solve these errors.

References:

 

About my environment

On my Dev box I have installed both Visual Studio 2010 SP1 and Visual Studo 2012. They are stock with no plugins. Before beginning the install of the Windows SDK I completely closed out of all instances of Visual Studio (just in case the SDK install needed to replace a file that VS uses).

 

How to Install the SDK (What worked for me)

To avoid the errors listed above while performing a Windows SDK 7.1 installation or upgarde:

  • Uninstall all Visual C++ 2010 Runtimes from your box (both x86 and x64)
  • Run the installer form the Windows SDK Site
  • When selecting which options to install UNCHECK the Visual C++ Compilers option

There are more details in the KB articles listed above that may help you if the specific details of your error messages differ from mine.

If you run into any errors, Click the View Log button at the end of the install. It will take you to a log page which includes detailed information about what went wrong during the install. At that point google / msdn are your friend.

I took the time to document this since the most visible error message seen during this process was this one:

Installation of the "Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7" product has reported the following error: Please refer to Samples\Setup\HTML\ConfigDetails.htm document for further information

That error tells me nothing since the file ConfigDetails.htm does not exist (not installed yet). If I run across this issue again I'd like a one-stop page where I can remember how to fix the problem