FIX: Problems installing January 2004 MSDN Library from DVD
Problem: Downloaded the new January 2004 MSDN library from MSDN Subscriber Downloads using the full DVD version (4.3gb ISO). I burned this to a DVD and installed without incident, but when I load-up VS.NET or even the Help viewer, I see no topics, no info, nothing. I checked to see if the files were installed, and that the registry settings were correct, and everything looked fine.
Solution: After doing some research via Google - here, here, here, and here, I tried several things, and ended up with the following solution:
I uninstalled MSDN and made sure everything was back to "normal" before trying again. This time, instead of installing from DVD, I Mounted the ISO using Alcohol 120% (there are many other utilities to mount ISO's, this is just the one I had installed) and installed it from the local ISO file. Two things happened; 1) It installed 100 times faster since it was HD to HD, 2) it fixed the VS.NET Integration with Help and everything started working again.
Cause: ???
I'm guessing that it has something to do with encoding the files onto the DVD. However, I tried this with several DVD burns and they all had the same result. Also, note that I have seen posts about it working fine with the CD version ISOs(3) after they are burned to a CD-R. Very strange!