Troubleshooting WinCC Professional V14 Install Failure After V13

Problem Overview

Engineers upgrading from SIMATIC WinCC Professional V13 SP1 Update 9 to WinCC Professional V14 (part of the TIA Portal V14 product family, released in 2017) frequently encounter a silent install failure: the TIA Portal setup launches without an explicit error code, but the WinCC Professional product components are greyed out and cannot be selected in the product tree. The setup completes, but only STEP 7 and WinCC Basic features are installed, leaving the HMI/SCADA engineering environment for WinCC Professional absent.

This article consolidates the field-confirmed root causes, diagnostic steps, and remediation procedure for the most common WinCC Professional V14 install failures following a V13 SP1 uninstall. The same procedure applies to subsequent TIA Portal V14.x service packs, V15/V15.1, and to users migrating from TIA Portal V16/V17 to V18 where a downgraded or mixed-version SQL footprint exists.

Symptoms of the Install Failure

Three primary symptoms indicate the failure mode described in this article:

1. Greyed product components — the WinCC Professional V14 setup dialog lists WinCC Professional ES, WinCC Professional RT, and related options as present but non-selectable, even when only the WinCC Professional media is being installed.
2. No error code or event log entry — the setup exits with return code 0 and the Siemens Setup log file (%TEMP%\Siemens\Setup\Logs\) contains no "failed" or "rolled back" entries.
3. STEP 7 Professional V14 and/or WinCC Basic V14 install successfully — only the WinCC Professional component family is affected, which is the diagnostic fingerprint that the issue is component-specific and not a TIA Portal framework failure.

Root Cause Analysis

Three interacting conditions cause WinCC Professional V14 to refuse a clean install on a machine that previously hosted WinCC Professional V13 SP1 Update 9:

Cause 1 — Residual SQL Server Instances

WinCC Professional V13 SP1 Update 9 installs two Microsoft SQL Server instances: the WINCC instance (used by the WinCC archive and runtime databases) and, when configured for archiving, a separate WINCCPLUS instance. The TIA Portal uninstaller does not remove these instances; it only removes the WinCC client components that connect to them. When the V14 setup detects that one or both instances already exist, it skips the SQL Server install step but cannot re-bind the V14 binaries to the V13 instance, leaving the product tree disabled.

Cause 2 — WinCC Basic V14 Already Installed

The TIA Portal V14 product line is composed of three distinct WinCC editions: WinCC Basic, WinCC Comfort/Advanced, and WinCC Professional. These editions share a common TIA Portal shell but use mutually exclusive runtime binaries. WinCC Basic V14 and WinCC Professional V14 cannot coexist on the same machine at the same major version. If a user installs STEP 7 Professional V14 with the WinCC Basic option checked (a common default in the V14 product line installer), the subsequent WinCC Professional V14 install will detect the WinCC Basic V14 footprint and disable its own components to prevent file overwrites.

Cause 3 — Microsoft Message Queuing Not Installed

WinCC Professional V14's setup prerequisite scan requires Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) to be present on the target operating system. MSMQ is an optional Windows Server feature that is not enabled by default on Windows 10 1607+ or Windows Server 2016. The TIA Portal V14 setup checks for MSMQ early in the product tree enumeration; when MSMQ is missing, WinCC Professional V14 silently de-registers from the install set on Windows installations where the option cannot be enabled offline.

Prerequisites

Before executing the remediation procedure, confirm the following:

• Local administrator rights on the target machine
• The TIA Portal V14 installation media (DVD or downloaded ISO from the Siemens Industry Online Support portal)
• License keys for WinCC Professional V14 (transferred to the local license server or USB dongle)
• Operating system: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit), Windows 10 1607+ (64-bit, Pro/Enterprise), or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 / 2012 R2 / 2016 — all are supported by TIA Portal V14 per the TIA Portal V14 system requirements.
• A current backup of all V13 SP1 projects and the WinCC archive database (*.ldf / *.mdf files in %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation\WinCC OLE DB\ or the configured archive path)

Diagnostic Procedure

Run the following checks before attempting any remediation. Each check corresponds to one of the three root causes above.

Check 1 — Installed Siemens Software Inventory

Open Control Panel → Programs and Features and sort by publisher "Siemens AG". Capture a screen of every entry. Look for any combination of the following installed product names:

Check 2 — SQL Server Instance Inventory

Open Microsoft SQL Server Configuration Manager → SQL Server Services. Record every instance listed. Expected WinCC-related instance names:

• WINCC — used by WinCC Professional V13/V14 archive and runtime
• WINCCPLUS — used by WinCC Runtime Professional and WinCC V7 when configured for process historian data
• SQL2014WINCC or SQL2017WINCC — named instances bundled with the Siemens SQL setup

Check 3 — Windows Optional Feature State

Open Control Panel → Programs → Turn Windows features on or off. Scroll to Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) and confirm whether the parent node or any sub-features are checked. Note the current state.

Step-by-Step Remediation

Execute the steps in the exact order below. Skipping a step or reversing the order will result in a partial or failed re-install.

Step 1 — Uninstall WinCC Basic V14 (or WinCC Comfort V14)

1. Close all TIA Portal instances, including the TIA Portal Help System and the TIA Administrator Service.
2. Stop the Siemens TIA Administrator service via services.msc.
3. Open Control Panel → Programs and Features.
4. Right-click SIMATIC WinCC Basic V14 (or SIMATIC WinCC Comfort V14) and select Uninstall.
5. Confirm the uninstall and allow the TIA Portal setup to remove shared files.
6. Restart the machine when prompted.

Step 2 — Remove Residual SQL Server Instances

The TIA Portal uninstaller leaves SQL Server instances intact. Use one of the two removal paths below.

Path A — Standard Programs and Features Removal

1. Open Control Panel → Programs and Features.
2. For each entry that contains "Microsoft SQL Server" AND matches a version of SQL Server 2014, SQL Server 2016, or SQL Server 2017 (the three versions bundled with TIA Portal V14 through V17):
   • Right-click and select Uninstall.
   • When the SQL Server Installation Center appears, choose Removal.
   • Select the named instance (WINCC or WINCCPLUS) and proceed.
3. Reboot the machine.
4. Verify in SQL Server Configuration Manager that the WinCC-related instances no longer appear under SQL Server Services.

Path B — Manual Removal of Orphaned Instances

If Path A fails (typically when the SQL Server 2014/2016/2017 instance is missing from Programs and Features because the uninstaller metadata was removed) perform the manual cleanup:

1. Open regedit as Administrator.
2. Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\Instance Names\SQL and delete the value(s) for WINCC and WINCCPLUS.
3. Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and search for subkeys whose DisplayName contains "Microsoft SQL Server" and references a removed WinCC install — delete the corresponding subkey.
4. Open SQL Server Configuration Manager → SQL Server Services and stop any service whose Binary Path contains the orphaned instance.
5. Delete the physical data directories:
   • C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL12.WINCC\ (SQL 2014)
   • C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL13.WINCC\ (SQL 2016)
   • C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.WINCC\ (SQL 2017)
6. Reboot the machine.

Step 3 — Install Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ)

1. Open Control Panel → Programs → Turn Windows features on or off.
2. Expand Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Server.
3. Check MSMQ Server Core and, for domain-joined controllers, also check Active Directory Domain Services Integration and Routing Support.
4. Click OK. Windows will copy the required files and enable the service.
5. Verify that the Message Queuing service is set to Automatic startup in services.msc.

Step 4 — Remove Any TIA Portal V14 Footprint

1. Open Control Panel → Programs and Features.
2. Uninstall in this order:
   1. SIMATIC WinCC Professional V14 (if listed)
   2. SIMATIC STEP 7 Professional V14 (if listed)
   3. SIMATIC TIA Portal V14 components
3. Reboot the machine.
4. Verify the %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation\ directory contains no V14-era folders (e.g., Portal V14, TIA Portal V14).

Step 5 — Reinstall WinCC Professional V14

1. Insert the TIA Portal V14 DVD or mount the ISO.
2. Run Start.exe as Administrator.
3. Select WinCC Professional V14 in the product tree. All WinCC Professional components (ES, RT, Recipes, Logging, OPC) must be selectable.
4. Choose Complete or Custom install as required by the project scope.
5. Click Install. The setup will re-create the SQL Server WINCC instance, install MSMQ-aware components, and register the WinCC Professional runtime.
6. When the setup completes, reboot the machine.

Verification

Confirm the install succeeded by performing the following checks:

1. Programs and Features — confirm SIMATIC WinCC Professional V14 is listed with the expected version (e.g., V14.0.0.0 or the applied Update).
2. SQL Server Configuration Manager — confirm the WINCC instance is present and the SQL Server (WINCC) service is running.
3. TIA Portal — open the TIA Portal V14, create a new project, add an HMI device with type "WinCC Runtime Professional", and confirm the device is added without an "incompatible runtime" warning.
4. WinCC Explorer — launch WinCC Explorer from the Windows Start menu. The Computer properties dialog must list all activated packages.
5. MSMQ Service — in services.msc, confirm Message Queuing and Message Queuing Triggers (if installed) are set to Automatic and in the Running state.

Parallel Installation Constraints Across TIA Portal Versions

Per the official Siemens Parallel installation of TIA Portal documentation, the parallel-installation matrix for WinCC Professional is intentionally narrow. The following rules apply across all TIA Portal major versions:

• Parallel installation of WinCC Professional V14 (ES or RT) with an earlier version of WinCC Professional (ES or RT) is not permitted on the same machine.
• Parallel installation of WinCC Professional V21 (ES or RT) with an earlier version of WinCC Professional (ES or RT) is not permitted.
• WinCC Basic and WinCC Professional of the same major TIA Portal version cannot coexist — uninstall one before installing the other.
• WinCC Comfort/Advanced and WinCC Professional of the same major TIA Portal version can coexist with STEP 7 Professional, but not with each other.

If parallel operation of two WinCC Professional versions is required (for example, V14 ES to maintain a V13 project and V16 ES to develop a V16 project), use one of the following approaches:

1. Run the secondary version in a Windows virtual machine (Hyper-V or VMware Workstation) using USB passthrough for the license dongle.
2. Use a second physical machine and synchronize projects via TIA Portal multi-user server or Git-based PLC project versioning.
3. Maintain a dual-boot configuration with separate Windows installations for each TIA Portal major version.

Field-Proven Caveats

The following constraints have been observed in production environments and should be considered before, during, and after the remediation:

• Anti-virus interference — CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, and Windows Defender real-time scanning can intercept the SQL Server installer's file-copy phase and silently roll back the install. Add an exclusion for %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\ and the Siemens install paths before re-running the setup.
• UAC elevation — TIA Portal V14 setup must be launched as Administrator. The TIA Portal framework is UAC-aware, but the embedded SQL Server installer is not; partial-elevation failures are reported as a successful setup with missing components.
• Windows 10 1809 / 1903 — TIA Portal V14 is not officially supported on Windows 10 1809 or later per the system requirements. For new deployments, use Windows 10 1607 (LTSB 2016) or upgrade to TIA Portal V15.1 or later.
• Project compatibility — WinCC Professional V14 can open V13 SP1 projects after the install is complete, but the project will be upgraded in place. Back up the project before opening it for the first time in V14.
• License migration — WinCC Professional V13 SP1 licenses must be returned to the license server before the V14 license can be activated on the same seat. Use the Automation License Manager to transfer or float the licenses.
• Domain vs. workgroup — the WinCC Professional V14 setup will run successfully on a workgroup-joined machine, but runtime redundancy features (master/standby) require an Active Directory domain and proper MSMQ routing configuration.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Related Upgrade Paths

The same SQL/parallel-install conflict pattern applies to subsequent TIA Portal major versions. The matrix below summarizes the upgrade target for common production scenarios:

For in-place upgrades, the TIA Portal installer provides an Upgrade option that performs the SQL and product-tree reconciliation automatically. In-place upgrade is preferred over uninstall/reinstall when the project must be preserved without re-import. When the in-place upgrade fails with the same greyed-out component symptom, fall back to the manual procedure documented in this article.

FAQ