Disclaimer: This information is based on the final release documentation from 2015-2018, as Visual Studio 2012 is a legacy product. If you have a specific error message, tell me: What OS are you installing on? Is it an offline or online install? Share public link
: Right-click the .exe and select Run as Administrator to ensure it has permission to modify system registries and folders.
: Verifying that a compatible version of Visual Studio 2012 is already installed. visual studio 2012 update 5 preparation.exe
The preparation.exe is a legacy setup utility embedded within the offline installation package for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Update 5, specifically the file VS2012.5.exe .
Here is the step-by-step guide to installing it successfully. Disclaimer: This information is based on the final
Released in August 2015, Update 5 is the final, most stable release for VS 2012. It provides critical bug fixes and essential improvements to Team Foundation Server (TFS) connectivity, notably adding support for Team Project Renaming .
If you’re still maintaining legacy projects, you might have run into the infamous visualstudio2012-update5-preparation.exe . While Visual Studio 2012 officially reached its end of support on January 10, 2023 , many enterprise environments still require it. Why do you need this "Preparation" tool? Share public link : Right-click the
Removes remnants of previous installations to prevent conflicts.
is a vital administrative and deployment utility designed to prep legacy Windows environments for installing the final lifecycle update of the IDE. While Visual Studio 2012 reached its official end of support on January 10, 2023 , many enterprise DevOps pipelines, legacy software mainframes, and specific industrial control systems still require a functional VS 2012 environment.
| Error Code | Message Text | Probable Cause | Solution | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Fatal error during installation | Corruption in the MSI database | Run msiexec /unregister then msiexec /regserver . Then run the preparation tool again. | | 0x80070005 | Access denied | Insufficient privileges | Ensure you are running as Administrator. Disable UAC temporarily (not recommended, but sometimes necessary). | | 0x80070070 | Disk full | Not enough space on system drive | Free at least 2 GB. Use Disk Cleanup to remove C:\Windows\Installer\$PatchCache$ . | | 0x80096002 | Certificate chain invalid | System time is wrong or root certs are missing | Sync your system clock with time.windows.com . Install latest Windows Update roots. | | 0x80240017 | Wrong package | Attempting to apply Update 5 to a non-English VS2012 | Download the language-specific version of the preparation tool matching your VS2012 language. |
While the update is generally safe, backing up is best practice.