This utility is designed strictly for Visual Studio 2012 ecosystems. Do not use it as a blanket cleaner for newer editions like Visual Studio 2019 or 2022, as doing so can corrupt modern side-by-side installations.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0 (for 64-bit operating systems) Applying Visual Studio 2012 Updates Successfully
The primary purpose of this tool is to go beyond the standard "Add/Remove Programs" uninstallation. When you uninstall Visual Studio 2012 normally, it can leave behind a significant amount of residual data, including registry entries, cached installation files, and shared components. These remnants can occupy several gigabytes of disk space and, more critically, can cause future installations of other Microsoft products (like SQL Server or newer versions of Visual Studio) to fail. The Pre Clean Tool is designed to aggressively locate and remove these stubborn artifacts, essentially resetting your system to a state as if Visual Studio 2012 had never been installed. microsoft visual studio 2012 pre clean tool download upd
It can move the Package Cache directory off your primary drive (e.g., SSD) to a secondary, larger drive, creating directory junctions so updates still work.
Before using any forced methods, always try to uninstall Visual Studio 2012 through the standard Windows interface: This utility is designed strictly for Visual Studio
: For newer environments where the Visual Studio Installer is present, this tool can remove installation files and product information for all instances of Visual Studio. It is typically found at
: If the Pre-Clean tool doesn't resolve your issue, modern versions of Visual Studio include the InstallCleanup.exe tool located in your installer directory ( %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer ) which can perform a more thorough removal. Uninstall or Remove Visual Studio - Microsoft Learn When you uninstall Visual Studio 2012 normally, it
: Clears temporary files, registry keys, and caches associated with older preview builds to improve setup reliability.
For community-maintained alternatives that target the package cache and registry specifically for VS 2012, some users refer to the Visual Studio 2012+ Setup Cleanup Tool on GitHub.