Visual Studio keeps crashing: Application Error

Question

VS keeps crashing, usually when I want to click on some text I want to edit. When I look in the event log I get;

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Application Error
Date:          26/03/2013 15:18:30
Event ID:      1000
Task Category: (100)
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      (removed)
Description:
Faulting application name: devenv.exe, version: 10.0.40219.1, time stamp: 0x4d5f2a73
Faulting module name: clr.dll, version: 4.0.30319.269, time stamp: 0x4ee9ae83
Exception code: 0xc00000fd
Fault offset: 0x00194a5d
Faulting process id: 0x47c
Faulting application start time: 0x01ce2a3396f0faf2
Faulting application path: c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\clr.dll
Report Id: 69d0daee-9628-11e2-aeba-005056c00008
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Application Error" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>100</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-03-26T15:18:30.000000000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>23553</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>(removed)</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>devenv.exe</Data>
    <Data>10.0.40219.1</Data>
    <Data>4d5f2a73</Data>
    <Data>clr.dll</Data>
    <Data>4.0.30319.269</Data>
    <Data>4ee9ae83</Data>
    <Data>c00000fd</Data>
    <Data>00194a5d</Data>
    <Data>47c</Data>
    <Data>01ce2a3396f0faf2</Data>
    <Data>c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe</Data>
    <Data>C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\clr.dll</Data>
    <Data>69d0daee-9628-11e2-aeba-005056c00008</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

also I get this;

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Windows Error Reporting
Date:          26/03/2013 15:21:01
Event ID:      1001
Task Category: None
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      (removed)
Description:
Fault bucket 2985755835, type 1
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: -721041670

Problem signature:
P1: devenv.exe
P2: 10.0.40219.1
P3: 4d5f2a73
P4: clr.dll
P5: 4.0.30319.269
P6: 4ee9ae83
P7: c00000fd
P8: 00194a5d
P9: 
P10: 

Attached files:
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\WERE350.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\WERF0C9.tmp.appcompat.txt
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\WERF108.tmp.mdmp

These files may be available here:
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_devenv.exe_3f453f47c0d86c534010e7cf6788bb8f42fbcd_cab_144e2fda

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 69d0daee-9628-11e2-aeba-005056c00008
Report Status: 8
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Windows Error Reporting" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">1001</EventID>
    <Level>4</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-03-26T15:21:01.000000000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>23554</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>(removed)</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>2985755835</Data>
    <Data>1</Data>
    <Data>APPCRASH</Data>
    <Data>Not available</Data>
    <Data>-721041670</Data>
    <Data>devenv.exe</Data>
    <Data>10.0.40219.1</Data>
    <Data>4d5f2a73</Data>
    <Data>clr.dll</Data>
    <Data>4.0.30319.269</Data>
    <Data>4ee9ae83</Data>
    <Data>c00000fd</Data>
    <Data>00194a5d</Data>
    <Data>
    </Data>
    <Data>
    </Data>
    <Data>
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\WERE350.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\WERF0C9.tmp.appcompat.txt
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\WERF108.tmp.mdmp</Data>
    <Data>C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_devenv.exe_3f453f47c0d86c534010e7cf6788bb8f42fbcd_cab_144e2fda</Data>
    <Data>
    </Data>
    <Data>0</Data>
    <Data>69d0daee-9628-11e2-aeba-005056c00008</Data>
    <Data>8</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Answer 1

Standard checks to resolve these types of errors:

• uninstall any beta/ctp releases for Visual Studio.
• look in the Windows Event Viewer and check for the following two items in the Application log: it will contain a stacktrace which may help you find the culprit.
• delete any *.*user files and the solution user options file (.suo)
• Run visual studio with activity logging turned on to see if the logs contain a hint to what's causing the crash. (devenv /log)
• Run Visual Studio in Safe mode (devenv /safemode)
• Clear the ComponentModelCache folder
• Check to see if any extensions/add-ons/plugins need updates and update them first to see if that fixes your problem.
• disable all add-ins and extensions (VS Commands, WebEssentials etc)
• uninstall all plugins (resharper, coderush, reflector etc)

• install the latest patches and service packs, you may need to re-apply these servicepacks if you've installed SQL Server or another product that installs a feature which is based on Visual Studio Shell:

  • 2005: SP 1 & TFS 2010 Forward Compatibiltiy Patch & Visual Studio update for Windows Vista
  • 2008: SP 1 & TFS 2012/VSO Forward Compatibiltiy Patch
  • 2010: SP 1 & TFS 2012/VSO Forward Compatibility Patch & Visual Studio update for Windows 8 and TFS 2012.
  • 2012: Update 5
  • 2013: Update 5
  • 2015: Update 3 & KB3165756
  • 2017: Update to the latest version

• reset vs settings (devenv /resetsetting /resetaddin /resetskippkgs /setup)

• backup & remove the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\ folder to have Visual Studio recreate your setting folder.
• Do not run Visual Studio while installing extensions, updates etc.

Try to reproduce it. If it still occurs, repair Visual Studio and reapply the latest service packs and hotfixes in order. If it then still occurs, submit a support ticket to Microsoft, or an item on connect.

If it doesn't occur turn-on/install/restore the items one by one until you can find the culprit. I know it's a lot of work, but since your error happens somewhere deep inside the CLR (you're seeing a StackOverflow Exception), it's hard to pinpoint the problem easily. When you've found the problematic item, see if there is an update for it or request their support (or update your question).

In the worst case you can perform a force-uninstall of Visual Studio using vs_setup /uninstall /force, that should work on the 2012 and newer installers.

If you're still on an old version of Visual Studio (2010 or older), really, really. really consider upgrading. These versions are past their support lifetime and were built for versions of Windows that are not even supported anymore. I know the pain these upgrades can cause in the short term, but the long-term solution is really to move away from the old versions.

Answer 2

None of the above worked. But I saw a user settings file had appeared next to the .sln file. I deleted it, and the solution's corresponding .suo file. This fixed the problem.

Answer 3

A quick and dirty approach is to rename your %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\ folder to VisualStudio.backup\ and restart devenv. It will recreate the folder and populate it with default settings files. You will lose any customizations of course, but many times that is ok and/or easily recreated. You always have the backup folder just in case.

If you want to take it a step further, you can move settings one-by-one from the backup back into the new folder until you can completely isolate the problem.