Visual Studio.NET 2005

Hello, I'm new here. So I'm hoping I'm actually posting in the right place. Anyways, I'm going to be attending college in September of this year and was hoping someone could tell me a little about this program?

When I ordered the program through the school and I received it. I figured it would be like 3-4 discs, I was definately wrong about that. When I opened the package, there I counted exactly 14 discs for this program. Now why in gods name would there be 14 different discs? LOL I'm clueless, and hope you could help me with figuring it out.

I also was wondering if you could tell me what this program does, what I would be intentionally learning? The reason I'm asking is because I've never used it. Can you give me some examples of what it can be used for? Like does it make web pages, or programs of some sort that you can place on websites? I'm curious.

Thanks, and sorry if this is in the wrong place of the forum.

Any helpful information would be highly appreciated.

Welcome to CH.

This article should explain Visual Studio better than I could. All your questions will be answered.

Good luck. 

Thanks, I appreciate the link you provided for me. It did help me a bit. Although, now how do I find out if I need to install every disc that came in this package? lol I'm so confused, I honestly didn't know it was going to come with 14 discs. I mean because I have Vista x64 windows. Now I'm not entirely sure. LOL

Here is the list of discs that came in the package.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Academic Professional Edition (all discs have this label)

1. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 64-bit CD1
2. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 64-bit CD2
3. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition IA 64-bit CD1
4. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition IA 64-bit CD2
5. Disc 1
6. Disc 2
7. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 1
8. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 1
9. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 2
10. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 2
11. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 3
12. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 3
13. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 32-bit CD1
14. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 32-bit CD2

Now the ones that seem to be duplicates, they aren't... They are actual discs labled the same. Not sure if it's because a set is supposed to be for 64 bit and a set is for 32 bit. I have no clue. The order that I typed them up in the list, is the order that they came in. There are no other lables as far as stating whether or not discs are for 32 or 64 bit other than the ones that have it stated in the title of the disc... Any help would be HIGHLY appreciated!!

I just don't want to install the wrong ones or whatever. Or end up installing all of the discs when it didn't need to be.

I hope that makes any sense at all?

Best I could find out is that Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Academic Professional Edition is a boxed set. Did it not come with any instructions? Have you checked the disks for readme files or other text files that may provide instructions?

1. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 64-bit CD1
2. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 64-bit CD2
3. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition IA 64-bit CD1
4. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition IA 64-bit CD2
13. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 32-bit CD1
14. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 32-bit CD2

If you have a 64-bit machine choose disks 1 & 2. Disks 3 & 4 are specific to the Intel Itanium processor series.

7. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 1
8. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 1
9. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 2
10. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 2
11. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 3
12. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 3

These would be the help files. Try using Windows Explorer to determine which set of 3 discs is for 32 and 64 bit machines.

5. Disc 1
6. Disc 2

Presumably, these are the actual Studio programs. Studio installs in about 3GB so you probably need both disks. Use Windows Explorer to determine which bit version you have. You might be able to get an indication by the file names (setup32, setup64, etc)

If the actual program files are 32-bit, I would stick to the 32 bit versions of SQL and the MSDN library.

Good luck. 

Thanks for your help. I'm like so confused, LOL... The program actually arrived in a manilla or whatever you call those envelopes, and then there was no instructions either.

I'm not happy at all the way the program came because each disc was also placed in a sleeve. Now how would I go about exactly taking and checking to see if they are 32 or 64 bit discs?

Oooo... This may help.. On the first sleeve, of the disc it does say some Win 32 on a white sticker... lol Does that mean that it is for windows 32 bit?


Oh... My... Lord... So confusing!

I'm sorry if I'm being a pain or anything...

Oooo... This may help.. On the first sleeve, of the disc it does say some Win 32 on a white sticker... lol Does that mean that it is for windows 32 bit?

It might if there are others marked Win 64. Did you explore the discs? Did you find any readme files? (they could have no extension, a txt extension, a doc extension, even a html extension)

You ordered them from your school, can you contact them and let them sort it out?

You could also put Disc 1 in the CD player and see what shakes out. If I remember correctly, after Studio installs you have the option to install MSDN. SQL is a separate install from Studio.

I'm not familiar with the student editions of Studio, but if you have product keys, you could even contact Microsoft.

Good luck with your studies.

Yeah, there are 4 discs with a product key on the back of the sleeves.  Also, the white sticker I was talking about earlier, it says exactly this:

Visual Studio Pro 2005 Win 32 English Disk Kit CD

Also, here's some information from the place that I purchased this software from. The description. Not sure if it would help or not, but it's worth a shot.

Microsoft offers Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition for professional developers working alone or in small teams who build mission-critical, multi-tier applications. The Professional Edition expands on the Standard Edition feature set to include tools for remote server development and debugging, SQL Server 2005 development, and a full, unconstrained development environment.

Professional developers will enjoy unfettered access to the .NET Framework 2.0, a robust, fully functional development environment, support for creating tools that extend the Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment, and tools for creating multi-tier Windows and Web applications.

With Visual Studio 2005, professional developers can:


Enjoy a complete development environment with comprehensive application development features
Develop and debug multi-tier server applications from within the unified development environment
Build solutions for SQL Server 2005 using integrated project types, deployment tools, and debugging features
Build tools that extend the Visual Studio IDE using the Visual Studio SDK

This is the image that it shows, but keep in mind... I didn't get any instructions, and not even a box that it shows as the picture.

Let me know if this at all helps? lol

Visual Studio Pro 2005 Win 32 English Disk Kit CD

I don't know what disc from the list has this sticker, but it seems to be the 32-bit VS 2005. Once you find the first disc to insert, you'll be prompted for the rest. The ones marked MSDN and SQL are not the VS program. My money is on the CD marked Disk 1.

I'm not certain why you received all those disks. The standard edition has 2 CD for the program, 1 CD for MSDN and 1 CD for SQL.

You never answered my questions about readme files. Can you contact the school IT department?

 

Sorry. I missed that question that you asked. I actually meant to ask earlier, how do I go about seeing the readme file without starting up with the installation?

Would I just cancel the installation, and then My Computer, to look at the files on the disc?

So should I start with the disc with the white sticker on it? I'm so scared, HA HA!

Okay, I hate doubling posting. But I went ahead and put the first disc of the stack in. I went and and found the readme file.

It shows links for contents such as the following:

Contents
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Installing SQL Server 2005
    2.1 Accessing Setup Documentation
    2.2 Upgrading to SQL Server 2005
    2.3 Side-by-Side Installations
    2.4 Uninstalling SQL Server 2005
    2.5 Setup Issues
    2.6 Failover Cluster Setup Issues
    2.7 Installation Considerations for Pre-Release Versions of SQL Server 2005
3.0 Obtaining Additional Information
    3.1 Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance
    3.2 Providing Feedback on SQL Server 2005
    3.3 SQL Server 2005 Books Online and Developer Documentation
4.0 Documentation Notes
    4.1 Database Engine
    4.2 Analysis Services
    4.3 Notification Services
    4.4 Reporting Services
    4.5 Replication
    4.6 SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition
    4.7 Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
    4.8 Shared Tools
    4.9 Samples
    4.10 Data Access

1. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 64-bit CD1  * (information above)
2. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 64-bit CD2  * (has the same as shown above)
3. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition IA 64-bit CD1  * (has the same as shown above)
4. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition IA 64-bit CD2  * (same as shown above)
5. Disc 1  * (setup file/installation file)
6. Disc 2  * (setup file/installation file)
7. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 1  * (setup file/installation file)
8. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 1  * (setup file/installation file)
9. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 2  * (setup file/installation file)
10. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 2 *(setup file/installation file)
11. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 3 *(setup file/installation file)
12. MSDN Library for Visual Studio Stystem Disc 3 *(setup file/installation file)
13. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 32-bit CD1*(same as above information)
14. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition 32-bit CD2*(same as above information)

PS: I'm going to edit this post now that I figured out how to do that. lol And put a star next to each disc I do for the readme files.

I'm not sure if I did what you wanted me to do correctly. Did it to the best of my knowledge. LOL

The SQL disks are pretty well marked and you know which is which. You have 2 sets of 3 disks for the MSDN library. Hard to tell if they are dups or sets of 32-bit and 64-bit or does it even matter.  Disc 1 and 2 by default must be the actual program.

Try putting disc 1 in the drive and see what files it contains. Rather than confuse the issue, if the disc starts the install, wait until it puts up a window and then cancel the installation. Now you can use Windows Explorer to explore the disk.

When you ordered VS did you mention your OS (VISTA-64bit). Have you contacted the school IT department?

 

Well no I didn't contact them. But it told me what program I needed to purchase, and that it told me what software to get exactly. So I did that. I don't know, maybe I ordered the wrong one I have no clue. LOL I just know that when I ordered it, it had the title that the required class needed so I got it.

I hope what I posted was any helpful information.

And no haven't contacted school.

Try installing Disc 1 & 2. Based on what you've posted, these are most likely the program files. After installation, start the program, click help, click about. That will present a splash screen with all the details of the software you installed.

Based on that information, you can pick the proper version of SQL to install.

The MSDN library is more problematical. You have two sets of three disks with no indications of 32-bit or 64-bit. I'm not even sure it makes a difference with the help files or if help files even come in 64 bit, but it would be nice if all the software matched.

If you can't/won't contact the school for guidance, try contacting a classmate who has this software. You can even use his disks to install on your system provided you use your product keys.

Visual Studio makes an entry in the add/remove programs applet in the control panel. If anything goes terribly wrong, you can always uninstall the product.

 

I will definately give it a shot, and let you know what happens. Again, thank you so much for helping. Also the reason I haven't contacted the school is because I'm taking online classes through Baker College. So I also have no clue who my classmates are until September 20th, lol.

I know, weird but that's the way it is. I just wanted to be able to play around in the program even though I have not a clue what I'm doing. I just wanted to see what it looked like, what kind of things you can do and what not. Get kind of familiar with it if that makes sense? lol More like get ahead of the game, ha ha.

But yeah, I'll do what you suggested as far as putting in Disc 1 and 2 and then give you what I see for details of the program. Now do you think I'll ever need SQL or the MSDN for this program at all? I mean what are the purposes of those? If you don't mind me asking.

During installing Disc 1 that you suggested, this is what was installed:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 64bit Prerequisites (x64)
Microsoft Document Explorer 2005
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
.NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP3
.NET Compact Framework 2.0
Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package
SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition
Microsoft Device Emulator Version 1.0
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition x64
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Remote Dubugger (x64)
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SDK (x64)

This was using the recommended install. Does this sound about right?


Edit: Okay, now I popped in the 2nd disc, and after a few minutes of installing or whatever it's doing. lol A window popped up about compatibility issues between this version windows and the visual studio 2005 version. So it wanted me to go online and install 2 things, which is Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 and Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista....

Is that a good thing? I mean that there are updates, for the compatibilities issues?

Edit again: It said there was an error of some sort... here's the error that it gave me

View Error Log
[08/15/08,21:08:01] Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition x64: [2] Error code 1 for this component means "Incorrect function.
"
[08/15/08,21:08:01] Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition x64: [2] Component Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition x64 returned an unexpected value.
[08/15/08,21:08:01] Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition x64: [2] Return from system messaging: Incorrect function.

***EndOfSession***

Not exactly all sure about above or if it's even neccessary to worry about.