Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Windows.Design.Interaction, Version=4.3.0.0, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'

Question

I just installed the Visual studio 2015 update 1 and I can no longer use the designer view of WPF. It says an unhandled exception has occurred. Here's the stack trace. :

System.IO.FileLoadException
Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Windows.Design.Interaction, Version=4.3.0.0, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)
   at System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(AssemblyName assemblyRef)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.AppDomainFactory.AddBindingRedirectForAssembly(String assemblyName, String publicKeyToken, String oldVersion, String newVersion)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.AppDomainFactory.ConfigureMandatoryAssemblies()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.AppDomainFactory.ConfigureAppDomain()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.AppDomainFactory.CreateAppDomainInfo()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.DesignerContract.Isolation.Primitives.ProcessDomainFactory.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.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()

It used to work just fine before updating VS2015. How can I fix this?

Answer 1

I did a repair of Visual Studio 2015 and it worked.

I wasn't expecting it to be honest, but it did. This is the repair feature under 'Programs and Features'. It took about 45 minutes and then requires a reboot.

You may need to close all your open windows and rebuild the solution too.

After a repair, the filestamp of

 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\
  PublicAssemblies\Microsoft.Windows.Design.Interaction.dll"

went from July to November - so it definitely was a corrupt install.