Unable to install GitHub for Windows

Question

I'm trying to install github for windows when I received this error:

Application cannot be started. Contact the application vendor.

The error log produced this:

PLATFORM VERSION INFO
    Windows             : 6.2.9200.0 (Win32NT)
    Common Language Runtime     : 4.0.30319.34014
    System.Deployment.dll       : 4.0.30319.33440 built by: FX45W81RTMREL
    clr.dll             : 4.0.30319.34014 built by: FX45W81RTMGDR
    dfdll.dll           : 4.0.30319.33440 built by: FX45W81RTMREL
    dfshim.dll          : 6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)

SOURCES
    Deployment url          : http://github-windows.s3.amazonaws.com/GitHub.application

ERROR SUMMARY
    Below is a summary of the errors, details of these errors are listed later in the log.
    * Activation of http://github-windows.s3.amazonaws.com/GitHub.application resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
        + The referenced assembly is not installed on your system. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800736B3)

COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION FAILURE SUMMARY
    No transaction error was detected.

WARNINGS
    There were no warnings during this operation.

OPERATION PROGRESS STATUS
    * [8/22/2014 12:51:27 AM] : Activation of http://github-windows.s3.amazonaws.com/GitHub.application has started.

ERROR DETAILS
    Following errors were detected during this operation.
    * [8/22/2014 12:51:28 AM] System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
        - The referenced assembly is not installed on your system. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800736B3)
        - Source: System.Deployment
        - Stack trace:
            at System.Deployment.Internal.Isolation.IStore.GetAssemblyInformation(UInt32 Flags, IDefinitionIdentity DefinitionIdentity, Guid& riid)
            at System.Deployment.Application.ComponentStore.GetSubscriptionStateInternal(DefinitionIdentity subId)
            at System.Deployment.Application.SubscriptionStore.GetSubscriptionStateInternal(SubscriptionState subState)
            at System.Deployment.Application.SubscriptionState.Validate()
            at System.Deployment.Application.SubscriptionStore.CheckAndReferenceApplication(SubscriptionState subState, DefinitionAppId appId, Int64 transactionId)
            at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDeploymentManifestDirectBypass(SubscriptionStore subStore, Uri& sourceUri, TempFile& tempFile, SubscriptionState& subState, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options, ServerInformation& serverInformation)
            at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDeploymentManifestBypass(SubscriptionStore subStore, Uri& sourceUri, TempFile& tempFile, SubscriptionState& subState, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options)
            at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.PerformDeploymentActivation(Uri activationUri, Boolean isShortcut, String textualSubId, String deploymentProviderUrlFromExtension, BrowserSettings browserSettings, String& errorPageUrl)
            at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.ActivateDeploymentWorker(Object state)

COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION DETAILS
    No transaction information is available.

According to https://status.github.com/messages , there are no issues currently with the servers. I am on a personal computer so there shouldn't be any issues with the connection. I tried downloading the application directly from http://github-windows.s3.amazonaws.com/GitHub.application , but the result was the same.

I am running Windows 8.1 Pro x64.

---

Edit 1: Currently I'm working around being unable to install GitHub for Windows by first installing it on another system, then taking the newly installed files from %appdata%\Local\Apps\2.0, and moving them to the system that is having trouble installing. (The full directory is %appdata%\Local\Apps\2.0\EWG9HYRR.BKG\2XKOJCRD.XRD\gith..tion_317444273a93ac29_0002.0002_f44dcb2e9d4cde94).

One of the major caveats of this workaround is that on the problem system, GitHub for Windows will report "This isn't a networked deployed app." and therefor not automatically update.

Answer 1

After contacting support, they emailed me and helped me work through the problem preventing GitHub for windows from installing.

This is a problem with the ClickOnce Application Cache.

1. Before proceeding make sure that you have connectivity.
2. Sometimes Firewall may be blocking this *.application
3. So turn off you firewall for private and public profile and then retry.
4. If the issue persists, you can use the process specified below.

1. Hold down the Windows key and type R.
2. Type in rundll32 %SystemRoot%\system32\dfshim.dll CleanOnlineAppCache in the run dialog and hit Enter.

Then try installing the application.

If that doesn't work, there's a more manual approach to ensuring the cache is cleared - you can delete the ClickOnce Application folder directly. On Windows Vista or higher, this will be the %LocalAppData%\Apps\2.0 directory. Simply delete the %LocalAppData%\Apps\2.0 directory and restart github for windows.

If nothing seems to happen after running the installer, you may need to restart Windows, or explorer.exe (if using the .msi installer, the app may be in: %LocalAppData%\GitHubDesktop)