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I am using Visual Studio Community 2015, and while installing or updating any extensions, it creates multiple VSIXInstaller processes and then entire system hangs in a few minutes. The extension does not get installed and I need to kill all the VSIXInstaller processes to get the system up and running.

Could you please provide a resolution for the same or provide an alternate way of installing/updating extensions. Screen captures are attached for reference.

Windows process screen: windows process screen

About vs screen: about vs screen

Gustavo Morales
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Indra
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    If you download the .vsix file manually from the web and double-click it to install, does the same thing happen? – Cameron Jun 10 '16 at 14:35
  • Yes, if I download and install, its the same behavour – Indra Jun 10 '16 at 15:25
  • Too bad, but at least that rules out the entire (enormous) Visual Studio codebase. The `VSIXInstaller` is a fairly simple managed executable, and can be decompiled. I'll take a look. – Cameron Jun 10 '16 at 15:26
  • Actually, there should be a `VSIXInstaller_GUID.log` file in your temp directory. What does it say? – Cameron Jun 10 '16 at 15:30

1 Answers1

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Looks like it's stuck in a loop trying to obtain administrator permissions -- when it detects that it needs elevation, it spawns a new instance of itself running as administrator, then waits for that instance to exit before itself exiting.

But apparently that new instance isn't elevated either (or doesn't think it is), and the cycle continues...

The VSIXInstaller uses the ProcessStartInfo.Verb = "runas" approach to spawn with elevated permissions (which should pop the UAC dialog), not sure why that might not work on your system.

If you manually run the VSIXInstaller from an elevated (Administrator) command prompt, passing it the .vsix file as the first parameter, it should install the extension without fork-bombing your system.

Community
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Cameron
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