Vista remove file association

This help article is for users experiencing the following problems in Visual Studio 2008:

Opening a document from the solution explorer list on the right opens a new document tab but the contents does not load - instead it freezes on whatever was in that window before, e.g. the contents of the web.config file.

You cannot select, edit or highlight any text in the opened document. The mouse cursor does not change when you move it over the active tab's edit area.

You can, however, open and edit the web.config page.

It is possible that this problem occured soon after changing the location of your RedirectedFolders on the network for a user with roaming profiles or redirected folders enabled.

Solution

You need to reset the settings in Visual Studio 2008. To do this follow these steps:

• Open up Visual Studio 2008
• Click "Tools"
• Click "Import and Export Settings"
• Check the "Reset all settings" radio box and click "Next"
• Choose a name and location so VS can create a backup of your current settings and click "Next"
• Choose your development environment and click "Finish"

You should now be able to at least access the "source" view of your document. If you can, but still cannot access the "Design" or "Split" view of the page with the same error as before, follow the next steps to repair the "Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Component":

• Go to "Add or Remove Programs" or "Programs and Features" (depending on your operating system)
• • For Windows Vista or 7, click "Start" and search for "Programs and Features"
  • For Windows XP click "Start", click "Control Panel" then click "Add or Remove Programs"
• Scroll down the list and look for an entry named "Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Component"
• If the entry is not there, insert the Visual Studio 2008 DVD and run "[Path to the Installation DVD]\WCU\WebDesignerCore\WebDesignerCore.EXE" to install it
• Otherwise, select it and click "Change"
• Now choose to repair the installation and run through the repair wizard
• Restart your computer once it is done

Thanks to the following URL for the latter half of this document - information on reinstalling the Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Component software:

http://codemagician.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/visual-studio-2008-design-view-not-working/