How to disable MSI logging files presumably being generated by Visual Studio

Question

I'm having this issue where I am getting a lot of MSI log files (the filename formats are MSIxxxx.LOG where xxxx corresponds to some random character sequence like "MSI974b5.LOG"). These log files are getting stored in the directory Windows/Temp. I should mention that I barely understand MSI log files or what they are used for (something about testing .msi installer files?).

I've tried the Microsoft support article for disabling MSI logging, but I'm still getting the MSI log files in my Windows/Temp directory. One thing I've noticed is that all of the MSI files mention "Visual Studio 12.0" somewhere in the log file, but beyond that I don't understand what is generating these log files or how to stop them from being generated.

I'm not sure if this is related but I recently installed Visual Studio 2013, but I don't remember enabling any MSI logging during the installation.

Answer 1

EDIT: I'm answering my own situation, which may be too specific to be helpful to others

The MSI log files were being generated by a bad Visual Studio install. Ran the repair option provided with Visual Studio and the log files are no longer generated. Why the log files were being generated so frequently and without my knowledge I do not know but at least I think it stopped.

Answer 2

See this bug on Microsoft Connect:

https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/835600/visual-studio-2013-reconfiguration-via-windows-installer-fails-repeatedly-consumes-50gb-disk-space-in-msi-logs

Answer 3

Check for a registry key named 'Logging' in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Installer. And just remove/rename this entry.

Answer 4

I was able to fix this by removing the key Vadim meant:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\Logging

in my case it was set to voicewarmupx, which basically means "Log everything and a little more".
You can find more Information here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223300/

Answer 5

The solution here worked for me.

1. Open an elevated command prompt.
2. Type:

   mkdir %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\URTInstallPath_GAC

Answer 6

Install the latest .NET Framework version 4.6.2 solved the issue for me.