Tag Archives: hacks

Visual Studio 2010 SP1 Slow to Start with “Loading toolbox content” Status

.NET, bug, general, microsoft, , ,

I still install VS2010 on all new machines for a number of reasons.  It seems that inevitably over the course of the life of the install I will eventually run into a problem where Visual Studio becomes slow to start, getting “stuck” for many seconds with this message in the status bar:

Loading toolbox content from package Microsoft.VisualStudio.IDE.Toolbox.ControlInstaller.ToolboxInstallerPackage ‘{2C98B35-07DA-45F1-96A3-BE55D91C8D7A}’

I initially theorized this had something to do with the Telerik control suite updating (via its outside “Control Panel” installer), but even completely uninstalling that didn’t solve it.  Since I keep doing a Google search to remember the real solution, I wanted to permalink the answer.  Basically:

  1. Close all instances of Visual Studio
  2. Back up registry (regedit, File|Export, Export Range: All)
  3. Delete registry key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\Packages\{2c298b35-07da-45f1-96a3-be55d91c8d7a}] (I also back up the specific key I’m deleting before I do it, just in case I click the wrong one)
  4. Navigate to C:\Users\WindowsUserAccount\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\
  5. Move toolbox*.tbd (typically four files) out of this folder and to a backup location:
  6. Restart Visual Studio

The toolbox*.tbd files will be immediately recreated on launch, probably at a much smaller size.  After the first launch, during which the toolbox is being rebuilt, Visual Studio should start much more quickly.

 

Gmail “Safe Mode” – Log In with Labs Disabled

general, google, hacks, , , ,

This morning, on first attempting to connect to gmail using  Chrome 4.0.223.16, I began experiencing this message:

You have been signed out of this account.

This may have happened automatically because another user signed in from the same browser. To continue using this account, you will need to sign in again. This is done to protect your account and ensure the privacy of information.

Upon clicking okay, I was immediately logged out of my account. Clearing cache worked to log in once, but the problem recurred upon subsequent log out-log in cycles. Per this thread at Google support, the answer was to start gmail in “safe mode” with labs disabled using this url:

http://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0

From there, I went into settings and turned off the “Super Stars” lab, though other users have reported the problem from other labs as well.

Update: The problem recurred, even with “Super Stars” turned off, so I disabled all Labs.