"Namespace is already plugged in" error message occurs when you try to install the January 2002 edition of the MSDN Library (318460)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN)
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2002), Professional Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2002), Enterprise Architect Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2002), Enterprise Developer Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2002), Academic Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2003), Professional Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2003), Enterprise Architect Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2003), Enterprise Developer Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2003), Academic Edition
  • Microsoft Visual C++ .NET (2002)
  • Microsoft Visual C++ .NET (2003)
  • Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (2002)
  • Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (2003)
  • Microsoft Visual C# .NET (2002)
  • Microsoft Visual C# .NET (2003)
  • Microsoft Visual J# .NET (2002)
  • Microsoft Visual J# .NET (2003)
This article was previously published under Q318460

SYMPTOMS

When you install the January 2002 edition of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Library, you may receive the following error message:
Setup has detected that the Microsoft Developer Network namespace is already plugged into the Visual Studio Combined Collection. Would you like to replace it with the MSDN Library - January 2002

CAUSE

The MSDN Library installation detected that a previous installation had installed the Visual Studio Combined Collection (VSCC) namespace. This may have been installed during the installation of Visual Studio .NET or another version of the MSDN Library, such as the January 2002 edition or later. If you have not installed Visual Studio .NET, the namespace is created and installed for future integration with Visual Studio .NET.

RESOLUTION

Microsoft recommends that when you install the latest version of the MSDN Library, click Yes when prompted.

If you click No, the current installation will not be made the default when you use the MSDN Library from Visual Studio .NET.

After you install the MSDN Library (whether you click Yes or No), you can change the default namespace for Visual Studio .NET. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Start Visual Studio .NET.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  3. In the Environment folder, click Help.
  4. In the Preferred collection dropdown list, click the name of the collection that you want to use.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

When you remove the January 2002 edition of the MSDN Library, the collection does not fully remove itself from the VSCC namespace. Please run the following utility to complete the removal of that version of the MSDN Library:

MSDN January 2002 Library Clean Utility
http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?URL=/downloads/sample.asp?url=/msdn-files/027/001/941/msdncompositedoc.xml

Note The MSDN January 2002 Library Clean Utility is intended only for use on computers that have Visual Studio .NET installed. On computers that do not have the product installed, you may receive error messages when you try to run the utility because the required file dependency HXDS.DLL may be missing.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

To reproduce the problem, follow these steps:
  1. Install one of the Visual Studio .NET products; include the documentation in the installation.
  2. Install a current version of the MSDN Library (January 2002 or later).
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:3/7/2006
Keywords:kbtshoot kberrmsg kbvs2005doesnotapply kbvs2005swept kbprb kbsetup KB318460 kbAudDeveloper
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