Multiple Errors Installing Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition
My problem did not go away with just reinstalling the 2015 vc redistributables. But I was able to find the error using the same process as in the excellent blog post by Ezh (and thanks to Google Translate for making me able to read it).
In my case it was msvcp140.dll that was installed as a 64bit version in the Windows/SysWOW64 folder. Just uninstalling the redistributables did not remove the file, so I had to delete it manually. Then I was able to install the x86 redistributables again, which installed a correct version of the dll file. And, voilà, the installation of VS2015 finished without errors.
After the failed install you have to repair the 2015 vc redistributables and restart the visual studio installer.
The redistributable installer is messed up, it mixes up 64bit and 32bit dll's. You can check if you have this problem by looking at the vcruntime140.dll file size. Search your windows folder for vcruntime140 you should see 4 files (64 and 32 bit in both release & debug versions). If any files have the same size, you need to run a repair on the redistributable.
On my system the 32-bit dll is 83,3KB, the 64 bit is 86,6KB (release versions).
I spent a whole week trying to solve this issue. What finally did it for me was disabling my anti-virus programs. Before I stumbled upon my solution, I went through a lot of other solutions. I thought, I'd post some of the solutions that might prove to be useful for those who are still having trouble with installing Visual Studios 2015 Community Edition.
Solution 1: Minimal Installation
Try installing with minimal extra features. Run the Visual Studios 2015 installation, then click "Custom" and on the following screen, uncheck everything and proceed with the installation.
Solution 2: Delete installation cache
Perhaps the installation failed due to corrupt files in the cache. When installation fails, remove all Visual Studio cache related items and do a full re-installation. To do this, run command prompt (Run as Administrator) and type: "cd /programdata/package cache/" then press enter. Then type "del /f /s *.msi /f /s *.cab" then press enter. Now run the Visual Studios 2015 installation again.
Solution 3: Delete temporary file data stored on your computer
Open up File Explorer and go to "C:\Users\[Your User Account Name]\AppData\Local\Microsoft". Then delete the following folders: VSCommon, VisualStudio, Blend, VsGraphics, ApplicationInsights, vshub, Team Foundation, Web Platform Installer and MsBuild. After this, run the Visual Studios 2015 Installer again.
Solution 4: Enable all four evaluations of Symbolic links
First, check to see if all four evaluations are enabled. Open up command prompt (Run as Administrator) and type "fsutil behavior query SymlinkEvaluation". All 4 evaluations should be enabled. If they aren't then type "fsutil behavior set SymlinkEvaluation L2L:1 R2R:1 L2R:1 R2L:1". Once those 4 evaluations are set, clear up temporary files and clear installation cache (see Solution 2 and Solution 3) then run the Visual Studios 2015 installation again.
Solution 5: Repair the Redistributables
Perhaps, the problem is that your VC-redistributables are faulty and are in need of repair. To do so, run "Add/Remove programs" and look for all the x86 and x64 versions of Microsoft Visual C++ [Year] Redistributable (Version). Then press Change for each of them and when the uninstallation screen pops up, press Repair. I did it for all the versions I had previously installed: 2012, 2013 and 2015. Therefore, I repaired 6 of them: 2012: x86 and x64, 2013: x86 and x64, 2015: x86 and x64.
Solution 6: Check to see if x86 and x64 sizes are the same
As mentioned by others in this discussion, do a search for vcruntime140.dll and see if the x86 and x64 versions. They should NOT have the same size. If they do, see solution 5 or you can manually delete them (** Be cautious when deleting files from the Windows folder!) and re-install them (from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=48145).
Also do the same check for msvcp140.dll. I personally did a search for these files in "C:\Windows\SysWOW64 and C:\Windows\System32" and compared the files from the two folders. Moreover I also checked for differences of vcruntime140.dll and msvcp140.dll in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0" and "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0"
Solution 7: Temporarily disable all Anti-Virus Protection and Firewalls
For me, it turned out that the problem stemmed from having ByteFence Anti-Malware and Norton Security with Backup protection. I disabled real-time protection from ByteFence Anti-Malware and I disabled Auto-Protect and Smart Firewall from Norton Security with Backup. Before I ran the installation again, I repeated Solution 2 and Solution 3 (scroll up). And Voila, installation was successful. But how did I find out that the Anti-Virus Program was the culprit? Read Solution 8.
Solution 8: Carefully monitor Visual Studios Installation Process for Intrusions
I resorted to this solution in order to find out the problem. After reading Ezh's article, I decided to download Process Monitor v3.2 and Process Explorer v16.1. I was carefully monitoring 3 programs side-by-side: Process Monitor, Process Explorer and the Visual Studios 2015 Installer, and I watched very closely all the processes that the installer was invoking. Then I noticed that when VSIXInstaller.exe process came on and attempted to install something from a remote server, it kept failing over and over again because my Anti-Virus Program would suddenly appear on screen (as a process) and decide to hog/block some important DLL files that VSIX installation needed. Temporarily disabling the anti-virus program solved my issue!
Solution 9: Complete Windows format and re-installation
If all else fails, and you are really desperate to get Visual Studios 2015 working, I suggest a complete Windows re-installation. At this point, the problem is most likely some type of interference/intrusion with a program which you do not know of.