'Failed to Execute VSTA' Error Message When Installing SOLIDWORKS

This article describes how to solve the 'Failed to execute VSTA' error message during installation. The error can be identified in the Windows Installer log as:

WIDll_Vsta
 SW MSG: Entering WIDll_Vsta
 SW MSG: WI_GetProperty: CustomActionData = C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\;$ (0)
 SW MSG: WIDll_Vsta: CustomActionData is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\;$
 SW MSG: WIDll_Vsta exe:C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\vsta.exe args:/hostid SolidWorks_VSTA /setup
 CustomAction Vsta returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)

Solution

If this syntax is identified, the following can help to resolve the error:

1. Uninstall Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Applications and Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Tools for Applications via the control panel. (Note: while this ONLY mentions 2005 and 2015 - ALL existing VSTA should be removed)
2. Restart the computer.
3. Rename the following registry keys (Windows + R hotkey, type REGEDIT);

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VSTAHost
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VSTAHostConfig

1.  Restart the computer again.
2.  Install SOLIDWORKS again.

Contact Us

For further assistance, please contact our HawkSupport team at 877-266-4469(US) or 866-587-6803(Canada) and support@hawkridgesys.com.