npm install fails with error C2373 with vs2015 update 3

Question

After reinstalling my machine with windows 10, setting it up with Visual Studio 2015 I encountered this error on installing my git repositories:

→ npm

Answer 1

Or update npm:

npm install npm -g

Answer 2

This error stays in relation with npm, node-gyp and Visual Studio 2015 and is already fixed in node-gyp@3.4.0, but npm is still pointing to an old version. As I workaround I can propose this:

1. Go to your folder where npm is installed, e.g.: C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm

2. Open: package.json

3. Remove entry for node-gyp in bundleDependencies

4. Bump version number to 3.4.0 for node-gyp in dependencies

5. Make a npm i in this directory to install node-gyp@3.4.0 to fix the problem

Relating GitHub issues can be found here:

1. nodejs/node#7286
2. nodejs/node-gyp#956
3. npm/npm#13199
4. npm/npm#13200

Answer 3

An alternative solution that doesn't involve messing with npm installation is to run

SET CL=-DDELAYIMP_INSECURE_WRITABLE_HOOKS %CL%

before running npm install