Visual Studio 2015 Designer Crashes in all Win10 UAP projects ("The app didn't start.")

1

The xaml visual designer crashes for all WIN10 UWP projects, including ones created from the standard template with no code added. I don't know when it started because I thought it was a problem with my project until I tried creating some new ones. The error is given below and in the screen shot at the bottom.

System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
The app didn't start. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8027025B)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.HostUtility.AppPackage.AppPackageNativeMethods.IApplicationActivationManager.ActivateApplication(String appUserModelId, String activationContext, ActivateOptions options, Int32& processId)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.HostUtility.AppPackage.DesignerWrtUtility.ActivateApplication(String appUserModelId, String activationContext, Object site, Boolean isRunningElevated)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.HostUtility.Platform.AppContainerProcessDomainFactory.ActivateApplicationInternal(String appUserModelId, String activationContext, Object site)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.HostUtility.Platform.AppContainerProcessDomainFactory.CreateDesignerProcess(String applicationPath, String clientPort, Uri hostUri, IDictionary environmentVariables, Int32& processId, Object& processData)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.ProcessDomainFactory.ProcessIsolationDomain..ctor(ProcessDomainFactory factory, IIsolationBoundary boundary, AppDomainSetup appDomainInfo, IIsolationTarget isolationTarget, String baseDirectory)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.ProcessDomainFactory.CreateIsolationDomain(IIsolationBoundary boundary)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.HostUtility.Platform.AppContainerProcessDomainFactory.CreateIsolationDomain(IIsolationBoundary boundary)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.IsolationBoundary.Initialize()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.IsolationBoundary.CreateInstance[T](Type type)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.IsolatedObjectFactory.Initialize()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerHost.Services.VSIsolationService.CreateObjectFactory(IIsolationTarget isolationTarget, IObjectCatalog catalog)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.IsolationService.CreateLease(IIsolationTarget isolationTarget)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.IsolationService.CreateLease(IIsolationTarget isolationTarget)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.IsolatedDesignerService.CreateLease(IIsolationTarget isolationTarget, CancellationToken cancelToken, DesignerServiceEntry& entry, IServiceProvider serviceOverrides)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.IsolatedDesignerService.IsolatedDesignerView.CreateDesignerViewInfo(CancellationToken cancelToken)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.IsolatedTaskScheduler.InvokeWithCulture[T](CultureInfo culture, Func`2 func, CancellationToken cancelToken)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.IsolatedTaskScheduler.<>c__DisplayClass10_0`1.<StartTask>b__0()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.InnerInvoke()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()

I have tried the following:

  • Running as administrator
  • Disabling Project Code
  • Clearing the \Designer\ShadowCache folder
  • Adding read permissions to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT for All Application Packagesas well as C:\Windows.
  • Running the visual studio repair.
  • I am not using TrueCrypt (people with similar issues were)
  • I have tried changing the platform target to ARM, x64 and x86 (rebuilding and reloading after each)

None of these have fixed the issue. I get the same error in blend. Any ideas?

Error Message Screenshot

visual-studio
visual-studio-2015
uwp
blend
visual-studio-designer
asked on Stack Overflow Jan 13, 2016 by Evan P • edited Jan 13, 2016 by magicandre1981

1 Answer

3

A reinstall of the latest Windows 10 SDK should fix this problem. This can be gathered from Microsoft I've had many issues like this in the past. Certain versions tend to be buggy.

answered on Stack Overflow Jan 13, 2016 by Harvey

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