SQL Server Management Studio 17 cannot find one or more components
sql-server, visual-studio
Solution
I had similar problem and in my case it was due to a corrupt `Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Shell (Isolated)` which SSMS 17 requires to run outside the VS IDE.
To fix this, I had to do the following:
- Uninstall `Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable` (both the x64 and x86). This is to ensure that step (2) will succeed as the repair process of the prerequisites might fail in some cases if newer versions have been installed.
- Repair `Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Shell (Isolated)` (or reinstall using https://download.microsoft.com/download/C/9/C/C9CA8400-20AA-4488-92A3-F3F6D978AD81/vs_isoshell.exe).
- Reinstall `Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable` (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746572 and https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746571) if removed earlier.
Problem
I have just upgraded to Visual Studio 2017 Professional and SSMS 17. I can access my servers and databases through Visual Studio 17's SQL Server Object Explorer but when I try to execute SSMS outside of the VS IDE it tells me "Cannot find one or more components. Please reinstall the application". I have reinstalled SSMS 17 twice and still cannot run it. The SSMS executable is at: `C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\140\Tools\Binn\ManagementStudio\Ssms.exe`. I get the same problem on another machine running VS 2017 Community. What is causing the message "Cannot find one or more components. Please reinstall the application" when I try to execute SSMS outside of Visual Studio? What do I need to do to execute SSMS outside of the VS IDE?