In the official Visual Studio 2013 installer, preparation.exe is a legitimate component that prepares your system for installation (checking prerequisites, cleaning temp files, etc.). It is not meant to be distributed separately or repacked.
Repackaging Visual Studio 2013 into a PreparationExe can simplify deployments and enforce consistency but must be done carefully to avoid licensing, servicing, and support issues. Prefer using Microsoft-supported offline layouts, automate builds and manifests, sign artifacts, and validate installations across representative platforms.
Open a command prompt as an administrator and navigate to the directory containing prepare.exe. The basic syntax to create a layout of your Visual Studio installation is:
prepare.exe /layout [path]
Replace [path] with the directory where you want to create the layout. For example:
prepare.exe /layout C:\VS2013Layout
This command creates a directory C:\VS2013Layout containing the files necessary for deploying Visual Studio 2013 with your specified configurations.
Posted by Security Team | April 21, 2026
Q: Can I just delete preparation.exe?
A: No. The main installer depends on it to pass environment checks. Deleting it will cause the setup to exit immediately.
Q: Why does the error mention “0x80070002 – file not found”?
A: The repack expects preparation.exe to be in the same directory as setup.exe. If you moved files, or the repack extracted incorrectly, this error appears.
Q: Is there a log file for preparation.exe?
A: Yes. Look for Preparing_*.log in %temp%. It often contains the exact failed DLL or registry key.
Q: Will these solutions work on Windows 11?
A: Most will, but Windows 11 has stricter security. Solution 1 (Compatibility mode for Windows 8) plus Solution 2 (disable antivirus) are essential.
By following this guide, you should be able to overcome the infamous preparation.exe hurdle and successfully install Visual Studio 2013 from a repack. When in doubt, revert to the official Microsoft tooling—your future self will thank you for the stability and security.
Ensure that Visual Studio 2013 is downloaded and installed on a machine. For repackaging purposes, it's essential to have a source installation that you can then modify and distribute.
Once you've customized the layout to your needs, you can then use various deployment tools (like Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), Group Policy, or third-party deployment solutions) to distribute Visual Studio 2013 across your organization.
This is the most reliable fix. You can extract the genuine preparation.exe from a legitimate VS2013 ISO (available via Visual Studio Subscriber Downloads or certain MSDN archives).
Do this only if you trust the source of the original file.
Why this works: The official preparation.exe has a valid manifest and will not conflict with system checks. The repack’s actual installation payload remains intact.