Error 8013141C in Visual Studio or sn.exe

I have an earlier post about Error "8013141C" in Visual Studio .NET 2003 or sn.exe from any of the .NET toolkits.

• Error 8013141C in Visual Studio or sn.exe

The problem is that you cannot delete a key and you cannot add the key. This is because you do not have access to the key to delete it and the .NET framework cannot add it because of constraints on the StrongName data store.

The solution is to give yourself access to C:\Documents and Settings\AllUsers\ApplicationData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys\. This allows proper functioning when you run "sn.exe -d" allow it to remove the StrongName.

• On Windows 7 32 bit, it is located here: C:\Windows\System32\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA
• On Windows 7 64bit, it is located here: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA

Here is an example sequence of commands:

C:\>sn -d someKey

Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Strong Name Utility Version 1.1.4322.573
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.

Failed to delete container 'someKey' -- Unable to format error message
8013141C

The key container must still exist because I cannot create a new key
container, the error message is as follows:

C:\Projects\dload\Assembly>sn -i "C:\Keys.snk" someKey

Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Strong Name Utility Version 1.1.4322.573
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.

Failed to install key pair -- Object already exists.


The hack to fix this is:

1. Browse to %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\AllUsers\ApplicationData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys
2. Grant rights to Adminstrators, or whatever group you belong to
3. Take Ownership of this folder (click Advanced under Security, and then click the Ownership tab at the top)
4. Apply the changes to the children ("Replicate permission...")