Unable to Update VS Code

[andrewrice]

Issue Type: Bug

When checking for updates, receive prompt saying the following:

"C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code_\chrome_100_percent.pak
An error occurred while trying to create a file in the destination directory: Access is denied"

Available options are:

• Try again
• Skip this file
• Cancel installation.

First two options immediately bring prompt the error again, cancel installation suppresses it until auto-update re-attempts the installation.

Error occurs when running as administrator as well.

VS Code version: Code 1.66.1 (8dfae7a, 2022-04-06T14:50:12.141Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19043
Restricted Mode: No

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor (24 x 3800)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on oop_rasterization: enabled opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_renderer: enabled_on video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	31.95GB (22.02GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 117dd477-59c8-4487-9ba4-aff765032dc6
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Extensions (1)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
prettier-vscode	esb	9.5.0

A/B Experiments

vsliv368cf:30146710
vsreu685:30147344
python383:30185418
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vswsl492cf:30256860
pythonvspyl392:30443607
pythontb:30283811
pythonptprofiler:30281270
vshan820:30294714
vstes263:30335439
pythondataviewer:30285071
vscod805:30301674
pythonvspyt200:30340761
binariesv615:30325510
bridge0708:30335490
bridge0723:30353136
vsaa593:30376534
vsc1dst:30438360
pythonvs932:30410667
wslgetstarted:30449410
pythonvsnew555:30457759
vscscmwlcmt:30465135
cppdebugcf:30466690

[darkvertex]

The autoupdate kept failing and I figured "Oh, autoupdate is borked, let me just install the latest installer.."

but nope, that fails too:

🤔

[darkvertex]

...aaaand now my install is corrupt, great:

---

Error text if it helps:

Uncaught Exception:
Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Users\alan\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\resources\app\out\main'
    at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:987:15)
    at Function.o._resolveFilename (node:electron/js2c/browser_init:253:840)
    at Object.<anonymous> (node:electron/js2c/browser_init:193:3263)
    at Object../lib/browser/init.ts (node:electron/js2c/browser_init:193:3507)
    at __webpack_require__ (node:electron/js2c/browser_init:1:128)
    at node:electron/js2c/browser_init:1:1200
    at node:electron/js2c/browser_init:1:1267
    at NativeModule.compileForInternalLoader (node:internal/bootstrap/loaders:312:7)
    at NativeModule.compileForPublicLoader (node:internal/bootstrap/loaders:252:10)
    at loadNativeModule (node:internal/modules/cjs/helpers:49:9)

[derkrasseleo]

I got the same error message after trying to upgrade via winget

[donkzquixote]

Ditto here, but here the reported file is unins000.exe instead of chrome_100_percent.pak.

[Absolucy]

Here, the reported file is resources/app/out/bootstrap-amd.js.

[the-chain-gamer]

same issue here. started happening since yesterday.

[connor-yu4322]

Same issue, if i skip file it just keeps going through every single file.

[RedSteelMoss]

Seems the permissions were borked on my install.

I was able to fix it by changing the permissions.

If you have administrator access with your user then you should be able to fix it with these steps:

Step 1) Open CMD.EXE as administrator (with your user)

Step 2) Run: takeown /F "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Microsoft VS Code" /R /D Y

Step 3) Run: icacls "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Microsoft VS Code" /inheritance:r /remove "NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller" /grant:r "%USERDOMAIN%\%USERNAME%":(F) /grant:r "CREATOR OWNER":(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) /grant:r "BUILTIN\Users":(OI)(CI)(RX) /grant:r "NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users":(OI)(CI)(RX) /grant:r "BUILTIN\Administrators":(OI)(CI)(F) /grant:r "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM":(OI)(CI)(F)

If you don't have administrator then the easiest way to fix would be to have someone with administrator change the owner of folder, subfolder and files in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Microsoft VS Code, using Windows Explorer's Properties > Security > Advanced.
Once you are the owner you can run the command in Step 3 without administrator.

[donkzquixote]

Thanks, Erijoda. This also fixed it for me. :-)

Step 3 for people with non-English Windows:

icacls "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Microsoft VS Code" /inheritance:r /remove "NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller" /grant:r "%USERDOMAIN%%USERNAME%":(F) /grant:r "*S-1-3-0":(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) /grant:r "*S-1-5-32-545":(OI)(CI)(RX) /grant:r "*S-1-5-11":(OI)(CI)(RX) /grant:r "*S-1-5-32-544":(OI)(CI)(F) /grant:r "*S-1-5-18":(OI)(CI)(F)

[darkvertex]

Thank you @Erijoda it fixed it for me too. 🎉

I was able to run the installer after your steps and my VSCode boots up like normal again. 😅

[joaomoreno]

@Erijoda What is the actual permissions difference between what VS Code set and what you set in that command?

This is what VS Code is using today:

vscode/build/win32/code.iss

Lines 1494 to 1501 in c20b68a

	Permissions := '/grant:r "*S-1-5-18:(OI)(CI)F" /grant:r "*S-1-5-32-544:(OI)(CI)F" /grant:r "*S-1-5-11:(OI)(CI)RX" /grant:r "*S-1-5-32-545:(OI)(CI)RX"';
	#if "user" == InstallTarget
	Permissions := Permissions + ' /grant:r "*S-1-3-0:(OI)(CI)F"';
	#endif
	Exec(ExpandConstant('{sys}\icacls.exe'), ExpandConstant('"{app}" /inheritancelevel:r ') + Permissions, '', SW_HIDE, ewWaitUntilTerminated, ResultCode);
	end;