Catastrophic Failu Visual Studio Crashing like crazy!!! WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

I know how it feels. Here are some more things you can try:

1. Have you tried a different installation media for the Visual Studio environment. I mean did you burn an img file to a DVD or is it a DVD with scratches on or something
2. Do you use Registry Cleaners
3. Have you tried installing Visual Studio without SQL Server 2005
4. What is the version number of the c:\windows\system32\mscoree.dll file
5. Enable Visual Studio logging by launching devenv.exe /log. This will create a xml based log file in the following folder:
   %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\ActivityLog.xml

Here is how I always install my machine:

• Install Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista
• Retrieve all the latest updates from the Microsoft Update site (this includes the .NET Framework versions)
• Install Visual Studio .NET 2003
• Install Visual Studio 2005
• Install SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition

What I recommend you do is download Microsoft Virtual PC and try it there instead of reinstalling your machine everytime:

• Microsoft Virtual PC

You can work with a master disk where you install only Windows XP without all the updates. Then you create a new Virtual Machine that uses this master disk as it's base. In this 2nd VM you install all the updates and Visual Studio et al.

SelArom wrote:

this is an intriguing idea, what is virtual pc can you give me more details on why I would want to do this is it slower to develop in a virtual machine vs installing directly to windows also, I don't use vs 2003 at all anymore -SelArom

It's a technology of which you will hear more and more of. It's a technology of the near future. It is called Virtualization:

• Virtual Machines

When you use Virtual PC you can create Virtual Machines that simulate a computer environment in which you can install a platform and try out software.