Windows Disks Keep Filling Up with Small Log Files

I noticed that a Windows server I use for development with Visual Studio 2013 Ultimate had begun filling its system drive with log files in C:\Windows\Temp for no apparent reason.

The initial response of our infrastructure group was to simply delete the log files on a weekly basis, as no one could find the cause of the problem. Since this issue was apparently in the purview of that group, I let this solution stand initially. However, as I feared, the problem became worse and the server began crashing on a weekly basis.

The log files had many messages that contain “Product: Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2013 — Configuration completed successfully.”

I wasn’t sure that the log files were the cause of the crashes, but it became apparent that the two were likely connected when I saw many similar errors in the Application log under Event Viewer: “Detection of product ‘{9C593464-7F2F-37B3-89F8-7E894E3B09EA}’, feature ‘Testing_Tools_for_Pro_x86_enu’, component ‘{55E69908-5292-4B15-A56D-822A6050848F}’ failed. The resource ” does not exist.”

Application log entry

There are a couple of fixes that should be applied here. The first is very simple. In all likelihood, a folder named “Microsoft.NETFrameworkURTInstall_GAC” is missing from the %SystemRoot% (usually C:\Windows) folder.

If this folder is, in fact, missing, add it using either
1.an elevated Command Prompt with this command:
mkdir %SystemRoot%Microsoft.NETFrameworkURTInstall_GAC
or
2. PowerShell:
mkdir $env:SystemRoot\Microsoft.NETFrameworkURTInstall_GAC

The second fix is to repair Visual Studio 2013 in the Control Panel.

Open Control Panel, open Programs and Features, select Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 [Professional/Ultimate/etc.], click Change, and click Repair on the VS splash screen.

In most cases, this will fix your problem.

Sources:
Visual Studio 2013 continuously repairs producing many small log files

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