The cumulative nature of Update 5 meant it had to account for a wide range of base installations. Some users were starting from Visual Studio 2012 RTM (no updates), while others were coming from Update 4. preparation.exe acted as the intelligent front-end to assess the starting point and fetch the correct delta of files, making it essential for the update's versatile deployment.
Example:
For enterprise environments where preparation.exe consistently fails, you can bypass its prerequisite check only if all dependencies are truly present.
preparation.exe is the tool responsible for orchestrating this "pre-flight" check. Its primary functions include: visual studio 2012 update 5 preparationexe top
Before running the update, ensure your system meets these requirements:
Resolves a critical bug where branching operations in the Source Control Explorer would fail with an error.
This is the most reliable method, as it eliminates network issues entirely. The VS2012.5.exe installer has a built-in /layout command that downloads a complete, standalone copy of the update to your local machine. The cumulative nature of Update 5 meant it
A supported edition of Visual Studio 2012 must already be installed. Hardware: 1.6 GHz or faster processor. 1 GB of RAM (1.5 GB for virtual machines). 1 GB of available disk space.
[Web Installer Setup] ──(Forces Online Verification)──> [High CPU/Disk Bottleneck] │ (Apply /Layout Command) ▼ [Offline Directory Creation] ──(Pre-verified Files)──────> [Fast, Low-Resource Install] Method 1: Build an Offline Local Layout Bypasser
: If you're running into issues during the update, checking the installation logs can provide clues about what might be going wrong. Example: For enterprise environments where preparation
If you have a file named on your system:
Instead of allowing preparation.exe to fetch components over the internet while scanning your computer, force a local directory layout extraction using the Command Prompt. This separates the download phase from the system modifications phase.
Runtime components required for applications developed with VS 2012. Important Maintenance Notes Support ends for older versions of Visual Studio