VSHost crash, REGDB_E_INVALIDVALUE loading Specific Project

Question

Whenever I load a solution in Visual Studio with a specific project set as the startup project, I get a VSHost32.exe crash. If I keep on going and launch the application, I get a COMException:

{"Invalid value for registry (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040153 (REGDB_E_INVALIDVALUE))"}

With a stacktrace:

at System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeEnvironment.GetDeveloperPath()
at System.AppDomain.SetupFusionStore(AppDomainSetup info)
at System.AppDomain.SetupDomain(Boolean allowRedirects, String path, String configFile)

Answer 1

This can occur when a project's config file has developmentMode set, but the machine doesn't have a devPath set.

<runtime>
    <developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
</runtime>

Removing that will fix it up.

Answer 2

Navigate to C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config\machine.config and remove the below setting from your machine config

<developmentModedeveloperinstallation=”true”/>