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visual-studiovisual-studio-2017

Uninstalling Visual Studio 2017 "Unexpected character encountered while parsing value"

I'm attempting to uninstall Visual Studio Enterprise 2017 using the Visual Studio Installer on Windows 10 Professional but when I try to do so I hit this error:

[0d1c:002d][2020-02-12T16:28:26] Error 0x80131500: Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: <. Path ''.
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonTextReader.ParseValue()
   at Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization.JsonSerializerInternalReader.ReadForType(JsonReader reader, JsonContract contract, Boolean hasConverter)
   at Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization.JsonSerializerInternalReader.Deserialize(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, Boolean checkAdditionalContent)
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer.DeserializeInternal(JsonReader reader, Type objectType)
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer.Deserialize[T](JsonReader reader)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Serialization.ModelSerializer`1.Deserialize(TextReader reader)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Cache.DirectoryRepository.GetPackage(IPackageIdentity identity)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Cache.CacheRepository.GetPackage(IPackageIdentity identity)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Installer.Extensions.IsPayloadRequired(IInstallablePackage package, ExecuteAction action, IServiceProvider services, ExecuteAction bootstrapperAction)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.InstallOperation.CreateDownloadInstallActivities(InstallablePackage installable, ExecuteAction action, Boolean isPresent)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.InstallOperation.PlanInstallable(InstallablePackage installable, Dictionary`2 downloadLookup, PackagePlan& packagePlan, Boolean repairPackagesWithDuplicateFiles, Boolean upgradeConfigurationPackage)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.InstallOperation.Plan()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.InstallOperation.Schedule()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Engine.CreateInstallOperation(Product product, String destination, ExecuteAction action, ITelemetryOperation telemetryOperation)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Engine.Uninstall(CancellationToken token)

Has anyone else run into this issue and know how to successfully uninstall this application?

Solution

  • This same happened to me. Can not repair or update.

    Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException: Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: . Path '', line 1, position 146.
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Engine.Initialize()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Engine.GetProducts()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionEngineImpl.IntializePackages()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionEngineImpl.GetPrerequisitesInternal(IInstallableExtension extension, ICollection`1 installedPackages, ICollection`1 installablePackages, ICollection`1 unresolvedReferences)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionEngineImpl.GetPrerequisites(IInstallableExtension extension, IEnumerable`1& installedPackages, IEnumerable`1& installablePackages, IEnumerable`1& unresolvedReferences)
   at VSIXInstaller.ExtensionService.GetInstallableData(String vsixPath, String extensionPackParentName, Boolean isRepairSupported, IStateData stateData, IEnumerable`1& skuData)
   at VSIXInstaller.App.Initialize(Boolean isRepairSupported)
   at VSIXInstaller.App.Initialize()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.InnerInvoke()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Telemetry.WindowsErrorReporting.WatsonReport.GetClrWatsonExceptionInfo(Exception exceptionObject)

    To uninstall use: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/install/remove-visual-studio?view=vs-2019