Installation stops responding without displaying any error information

Description

When installing or uninstalling any of the following 9.2 products, or their Service Packs, the installation stops responding: ArcGIS Server for the Microsoft .NET Framework, ArcIMS Web ADF for the Microsoft .NET Framework, Desktop SDK for the Microsoft .NET Framework, Engine SDK for the Microsoft .NET Framework, or ArcGIS Explorer SDK.

Note:
This article pertains to ArcGIS versions 9.2, 9.3, and 9.3.1. Later versions of ArcGIS may contain different functionality, as well as different names and locations for menus, commands and geoprocessing tools.

Sometimes, when the set up stops responding, the message "Registering Visual Studio Express" is displayed in the installation user interface. Otherwise, no information is given.

Cause

One, or more, of three Microsoft Visual Studio Express Edition products is on the machine when the ArcGIS installation stops responding: Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, or Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition.
All Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions require registration within thirty days of installation. After thirty days has passed, a prompt for registration appears every time the Visual Studio Express Edition is launched. When a product that integrates templates into Visual Studio Express is installed on top of a Visual Studio Express Edition that has not been activated within the thirty day window, the installation stops responding. Likewise, any product that integrates Visual Express templates stops responding during uninstallation if Visual Studio Express is not registered within thirty days. This issue has been documented by Microsoft.

Solution or Workaround

1. When the installation, or uninstallation, stops responding, press the CRTL+ALT+DEL keys. Click the Task Manager button, or right-click the Windows Start bar and select Task Manager.
2. Select the Processes tab on the Windows Task Manager and locate the process: VWDExpress.exe, VCSExpress.exe, VBExpress.exe, and any process with the format msi*.tmp. Depending on which Visual Studio Express Edition is installed, only one or more of these may be listed.
3. Right-click this process and select End process tree. After ending these processes, the installation, or uninstallation, should complete successfully.