Visual Studio 2022 17.14.3 C++ integration broken on Windows Server 2016

Our build server runs Windows Server 2016.

After the latest Visual Studio 2022 update, I get this error message when I try to open a C++ solution:

The 'Visual C++ Package' package did not load correctly.

etc.

The error says to look at ActivityLog.xml for details.

ActivityLog.xml has this entry:

<entry>

<record>505</record>

<time>2025/05/30 00:51:42.313</time>

<type>Error</type>

<source>VisualStudio</source>

<description>No InprocServer32 registered for package [Visual C++ Package]</description>

<guid>{1B027A40-8F43-11D0-8D11-00A0C91BC942}</guid>

<hr>0x8007007f</hr>

<errorinfo></errorinfo>

<path>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\Common7\IDE\VC\vcpackages\vcpkg.dll</path>

</entry>

I have tried everything including completely removing Visual Studio and using the Visual Studio cleanup tool, deleting all of the directories, and removing the registry keys, and installing again fresh.

I have an idea why this error might occur. When I use the "Dependencies" application to look at the vcpkg.dll mentioned in the error, I see there are some dependencies in red that are missing:

(from my Copilot log:)

❌ 1. COMCTL32.dll with a blank function

• This usually indicates a missing or corrupted export in the DLL.
• It could also mean the DLL is incompatible with the version expected by vcpkg.dll.

❌ 2. kernel32.dll → SetThreadDescription

• This function was introduced in Windows 10 version 1607 (Anniversary Update).
• If it's red, it means:
  • You're running on an older version of Windows, or
  • The DLL is corrupted, or
  • The DLL is being loaded from the wrong ___location (e.g., redirected or mismatched architecture) ❌ 1. COMCTL32.dll with a blank function
    • This usually indicates a missing or corrupted export in the DLL.
    • It could also mean the DLL is incompatible with the version expected by vcpkg.dll.
    ❌ 2. kernel32.dll → SetThreadDescription
    • This function was introduced in Windows 10 version 1607 (Anniversary Update).
    • If it's red, it means:
      • You're running on an older version of Windows, or
      • The DLL is corrupted, or
      • The DLL is being loaded from the wrong ___location (e.g., redirected or mismatched architecture)

Furthermore, this is what Copilot says about this:

⚠️ Visual Studio 2022 and Windows Server 2016 Compatibility Issue

You're running Windows Server 2016, which is based on Windows 10 version 1607. This version does not support the SetThreadDescription API used by some Visual Studio 2022 components — including vcpkg.dll.

This is why you're seeing:

"The specified procedure could not be found"

when trying to load or register that DLL. It's not a corruption issue — it's a missing API in the OS.

🧩 Why This Breaks Visual Studio

• Visual Studio 2022 assumes the presence of newer Windows APIs like SetThreadDescription.
• These APIs are not available in Windows Server 2016 (1607).
• As a result, certain packages (like the Visual C++ Package) fail to load, triggering the InprocServer32 error in ActivityLog.xml.

Does anyone have any other ideas how we could work around this issue? Should I just roll back to an older version of Visual Studio 2022? I didn't see this error before doing updates.