Possible workarounds for XNA Game Studio setup errors caused by XnaLiveProxy

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Every once in a while, I hear from a customer on the Creators Club forums or via my blog who cannot install XNA Game Studio due to a problem with the XnaLiveProxy component that is installed behind the scenes during setup.  I wanted to describe how I diagnose this type of issue and offer a few suggestions for working around this issue in case anyone runs into a similar problem in the future.

How to diagnose this issue

The first thing I do when XNA Game Studio setup fails is look at the setup log files.  XNA Game Studio setup automatically creates verbose setup log files at the following locations:

  • XNA Game Studio 2.0 - %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v2.0\Setup\Logs
  • XNA Game Studio 3.0 - %temp%\XNA Game Studio 3.0 Setup\Logs
  • XNA Game Studio 3.1 - %temp%\XNA Game Studio 3.1 Setup\Logs
  • XNA Game Studio 4.0 - %temp%\XNA Game Studio 4.0 Setup\Logs

I sort the logs in this folder by modified date and then look for the most recent log file named GameStudioSetup*.log.  Then, I search for the string Bootstrapper.exe Error in this log file.  For this particular issue, the error in GameStudioSetup*.log will look like the following:

Bootstrapper.exe Error: 0 : In Task InstallXnaLiveProxy: MSI Task Processor Failed on task: Copying XNA Game Studio files \n Please consult C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Local\Temp\XNA Game Studio 4.0 Setup\Logs\xnaliveproxy-20100724.150035.LOG for additional log information.

This error message lists the name of an additional log file that will contain more detailed error information.  The next step I take is to search for the string return value 3 in the xnaliveproxy*.log file listed in the above error message.  For this particular issue, the error in xnaliveproxy*.log will look like the following:

MSI (s) (7C:00) [12:34:56:789]: Product: Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0 (XnaLiveProxy) -- Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action InitializeXnaLiveProxy, location: C:\Program Files\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v4.0\Bin\XnaLiveProxy.exe, command: /install

How to work around this issue

Here are some possible causes and suggested workarounds for this error:

1. A problem with Games for Windows – LIVE

To work around this issue, I recommend going to the Programs and Features control panel, removing the item named Microsoft Games for Windows – LIVE Redistributable, installing the latest version of Games for Windows – LIVE, then trying to run XNA Game Studio (or Windows Phone Developer Tools) setup again.

2. A problem with the DirectX 9.0c runtime files

If the above doesn’t help, then I recommend trying to install the DirectX 9.0c redistributable using the standalone web installer, then trying to run XNA Game Studio (or Windows Phone Developer Tools) setup again.

3. A problem with the .NET Framework

If neither of the above help, then I recommend trying to uninstall + re-install the .NET Framework 3.5 or 3.5 SP1 (if you are trying to install XNA Game Studio 3.0 or 3.1) or the .NET Framework 4 (if you are trying to install XNA Game Studio 4.0, then trying to run XNA Game Studio (or Windows Phone Developer Tools) setup again.