SAP Crystal Reports v13 runtime not installing on local computer

Question

I am running VS professional 2015 on my Windows 10 professional, and I needed to install the Crystal Reports runtime on my computer so I can build projects with CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine and CrystalDecisions.Shared, version 13.0.2000.0.

I also currently have Crystal Reports 2008, version 12.0.0.683 installed on my computer to create reports outside VS 2015.

On our company server, there was a .msi file and a .exe file. Like an idiot, I ran the .msi file without knowing:

To integrate "SAP Crystal Reports, developer version for Microsoft Visual Studio" into VS 2010 or 2012 (SP 7 and higher) or VS 2013 (SP 9 or higher) or VS 2015 RC (SP14) - VS 2015 (fully - SP 15), you must run the Install Executable. Running the MSI will not fully integrate Crystal Reports into VS. MSI files by definition are for runtime distribution only.

So after running the .msi file and realizing my mistake, I ran the "Uninstall" option from the .msi file and checked my GAC. The CrystalDecisions has been uninstalled from my "GAC_32" and "GAC_64" folders. However, the strange part is that in my "GAC_MSIL" folder, it has the CrystalDecisions version 12.0.2000.0.

GAC_MSIL folder - but no CrystalDecisions folders in GAC_32 or GAC_64

I checked my Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features and nowhere can I find "SAP Crystal Reports runtime engine for .NET Framework (64-bit)" and "SAP Crystal Reports, version for Microsoft Visual Studio", so I figured the uninstall was successful.

When I try to run the .exe file this time, I get an error saying that it cannot run the installation due to the following error:

SAP Crystal Reports runtime installation error window

So I checked EventViewer -> Windows Logs -> Application, and the error log said it was an error at installation 1603 and "Product: SAP Crystal Reports, version for Microsoft Visual Studio -- You must already have Visual Studio 2010 or Visual Studio 2012 installed to proceed with this installation."

I talked with my boss and he said he doubts I need VS 2012 and it does not make sense to have both VS 2012 and 2015 on my computer. Unfortunately, I cannot build projects using CrystalDecisions v.13 like our production server, and building the project using the CrystalDecisions v.12 on my computer will cause the project to fail if I release it to production.

I checked other questions on StackOverflow, and I saw some solutions:

1. Install VS 2012 - not an option unless a last resort; we have VS 2015 only - unless if installing a "community" version of VS 2012 would do the trick.
2. Do a system restore - one person suggested because I ran the .msi file instead of the .exe, it messed up my assembly, so doing a system restore before I ran the .msi file could fix it and allow me to install CR runtime correctly, but again, my boss says he wouldn't recommend it
3. Try running the CR runtime setup from the SAP website with a newer version other than v.13 for my x64 bit machine that will integrate with VS 2015 without needing VS 2012 - then the newer version of my CR runtime when I build my projects will be different from the CR runtime on the production server and there will be conflicts when I release my project on the production server.
4. Alter/delete my assembly files because running the .msi file screwed up my assembly cache - Really risky; I don't know the first thing about assembly files and I could mess up my computer. And would deleting manually the "CrystalDecisions" folders from my "GAC_MSIL" folder even work if the GAC_32 and GAC_64 folders do not have "CrystalDecisions"?

None of these solutions are preferable, so does anyone have any other solutions I cannot see that work?

Thank you for your patience. I could just bash my head against the desk because I ran the .msi file instead of reading the directions carefully. I feel like an idiot...

Answer 1

To all those who are wondering, my boss and I fixed the issue and it was incredibly simple!

It turns out that we needed some Visual Studio 2012 tools installed on the computer before running the executable. We needed to install those SDK libraries in Visual Studio 2015 before running the installation of the "CRforVS_13_0_6.exe" file.

So I went to "Control Panel" -> "Programs and Features" -> selected Visual Studio Professional 2015 and clicked the "Change" button to go to the following menu:

Installing new Visual Studio 2015 SDK Features

We checked the "Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.0/8.1 Tools" and made sure "Tools and Windows SDKs" was checked.

After updating, I restarted my computer and tried to run the Crystal Reports v13 for Visual Studio .exe again.

It worked!

So it looks like my boss's doubt was incorrect; you do need some VS 2012 components to run the CR v13 installation for Visual Studio!

Putting this here for future reference!