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Pool Computers — Windows

A version of Visual Studio Code is available on the Windows pool computers via the software management tool, but we advise against using it because it is very old. Therefore, you need to install Visual Studio Code and g++ manually on the Windows pool computers.

Unfortunately, the GCC compiler from MSYS2 that we install on private computers does not work on the Windows pool computers. Therefore, we install g++ using Strawberry Perl. Please only follow these steps on pool computers; private Windows computers are not affected!

1. Installing GCC​

As the compiler, we install MinGW64 using Strawberry Perl. Perl is a programming language of its own, but we only use the compiler that comes with it.

  1. Download the current portable version.
  2. Extract the archive to H:\My Documents\InfIng\Strawberry. This takes about 30 minutes. Since the compiler is completely extracted at about 70 % progress, you can already continue with the next steps at that point. Nevertheless, let the extraction finish normally.

2. Adding GCC to the path​

Now you need to add the compiler you just installed to the path so that Visual Studio Code can find it.

  1. Type Environment (German: Umgebungsvariablen) into the Windows search and click on the option Edit the system environment variables (German: Systemumgebungsvariablen bearbeiten).
  2. In the new window, click the Environment Variables button (German: Umgebungsvariablen). Another window opens. Double-click the Path entry there.
  3. In the new window, click the New button (German: Neu) and add H:\My Documents\InfIng\Strawberry\c\bin. If necessary, remove the entry of a non-working MSYS2 installation.
  4. Close all three open windows in reverse order by clicking OK.
  5. Check whether the compiler installation and the path change were successful:
    • Start PowerShell: press the Windows key, type PowerShell and click on Windows PowerShell.
    • Enter g++ --version in the new window.
    • An output should appear that starts with g++ and contains a version number.
    • If an error message appears instead saying that g++ is not recognized, a step was not carried out correctly. In this case, check the path you entered first!

3. Visual Studio Code​

  1. Download Visual Studio Code as a .zip archive for x64.
  2. Create the directory H:\My Documents\InfIng.
  3. Copy the .zip archive to H:\My Documents\InfIng.
  4. Right-click the .zip archive and select Extract all … (German: Alle extrahieren …). Destination folder: H:\My Documents\InfIng\VSCode. Extraction takes some time.
  5. Create the folder H:\My Documents\InfIng\VSCode\data.
  6. Start Visual Studio Code with Code.exe --no-sandbox --disable-gpu-sandbox. You can also create the script code.cmd with the following content in H:\My Documents\InfIng\VSCode and start it from the File Explorer. Note: Starting may take a while.
Code.exe --no-sandbox --disable-gpu-sandbox

Setting up Visual Studio Code is described in the main guide.

4. FAQ and problems​

Below you will find problems that frequently occur on the Windows pool computers. If you cannot find a solution to your problem here, please also check the general FAQ.

Code 18 "launch-failed" when starting Visual Studio Code​

In an earlier version of this guide, the content of code.cmd in this step was incorrect. Please check that code.cmd contains the following:

Code.exe --no-sandbox --disable-gpu-sandbox

Security warning in the terminal​

As long as the requested programs are shipped with Visual Studio Code or Strawberry Perl, you can run them (option R).

Security warning
Run only scripts that you trust. While scripts from the internet can be useful, this script can potentially harm your computer. If you trust this script, use the Unblock-File cmdlet to allow the script to
run without this warning message. Do you want to run H:\My Documents\InfIng\VSCode\resources\app\out\vs\workbench\contrib\terminal\common\scripts\shellIntegration.ps1?
[D] Do not run  [R] Run once  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "D"):

Error message: The program is not compatible with the given OS​

Check whether you have downloaded the correct version of the .zip archive. The links for ARM and x64 are very close to each other on the download page.