Visual Studio and/or Windows Explorer Crash with TypeScript Files

Question

In Windows Explorer, whenever I try to open a folder that contains TypeScript files, explorer freezes and crashes. When I try to edit TypeScript files in Visual Studio, it allows me to do so until I save the file. When I save the file, Visual Studio crashes without any dialogs.

I tried completely removing anything Visual Studio related (uninstall, registry clean, etc.) and reinstalling. I also tried running Windows in safe mode, and/or running Visual Studio in safe mode, none of which work. Running Visual Studio as an administrator also does not work.

I know it is not an issue with the actual repo since these files work fine on several other developer machines. This functionality was working just fine a month ago, with no changes in updates or installed extensions.

I am running Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 (14.0.25431.01) on a Windows 10 64-bit machine. TypeScript Tools for Visual Studio is at version 2.2.1.0.

Please let me know if there are any logs I can provide, I'm not sure where to get them.

Answer 1

The following update fixes this issue: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems (KB4015438).

This is as of March 20, 2017.

Answer 2

UPDATE:

Many people have reported this issue as being the result of Windows Update KB4013429. This affects all Visual Studio installations. To resolve the issue, simply uninstall this update and restart your PC.

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Old "Solution":

I solved the problem by reinstalling/cleaning Windows.

I know that's not a very good answer, but I wasn't able to solve the issue otherwise. Disabling antivirus shields did not work, and neither did running in safe mode. I think something in the registry may have gotten corrupted during a Visual Studio reinstall. Would love to hear any actual solutions if anyone else comes across this problem in the future.