How can I resolve these redraw issues in Visual Studio?

Question

Every now and then (but multiple times a day), this happens:

• The content of tabs (meaning the text editor itself in this example) is offset.
• Code is not drawn at all.
• Clicking on tabs does nothing.
• Toolbox windows are also not rendered correctly
• It usually starts out with the caret disappearing
• When it happens, all menus are opened in the top left corner of Visual Studio (or the screen, hard to tell)
• It seems to only happen when Visual Studio is maximized.

Visual Studio will become unusable as it only produces corrupted graphics output. Resizing the window temporarily resolves drawing issues, but once I perform any action in the UI, Visual Studio corrupts again.

Only restarting Visual Studio resolves the issue for a while.

Disabling hardware acceleration and/or rich visual experience has no effect on the issue.

Answer 1

Hi OliverSalzburg,

Thanks for your post.

From your description, the issue may due to extensions.

Could you please switch your OS to safemode to see if you can reproduce this issue?

I recommend you follow some steps here to troubleshoot:

1. Boot your OS to safemode and remove all your extensions.

2. Try some commands to reset VS:

    a. Run devenv /Resetsettings to eliminate the cause of corrupted settings.
    b. Run devenv /ResetSkipPkgs in Command Prompt.
    c. Run devenv /Safemode to see if you can apply it correctly. This can eliminate the possibility that third party Add-ins or packages are causing problems.

3. Switch and try a new user account. This can rule out the possibility of corrupted user profile

If you have any updates on this issue, please feel free to let me know.

Regards,

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Barry Wang [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 2

I just want to note that this is not an answer to my issue. This is wildly resetting everything and hoping something will stick. 

First of all, the issue is not 100% reproducable all the time, so these suggestions can't be confirmed easily or quickly.

Second of all, if I remove all my extensions, I will not be able to continue my work in the same fashion as before. Removing all extensions will also not help me to find the actual issue, even if the actual issue was a specific extension.

Also, why would you tell me to reset all of my Visual Studio settings to defaults? I have made extensive customizations to my settings over the years. The least you could do is warn me about the possible implications of those commands.

Contrary to what you're suggesting, I suspect high memory load situations to be linked to this issue as I have been encountering several memory warnings from Aero around the time that these issues happen. But, as I said, this issue is not that easily reproduced, so I was not yet able to confirm my own suspicions or perform further analysis.

Answer 3

Hi Oliver,

Thanks for your feedback.

Since we do not know how to reproduce your issue. I paste common steps here to you so that you can reset Visual Studio. The template here is always used for people who are unable to continue with their job. I'm sorry I haven't pasted the warning about extensions here and asked you to reset Visual Studio.

If you want to save the settings, please use Tools>>Import and Export Settings to save your settings so that you can import it next time.

For how to save your extensions, you can refer to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3523237/how-to-export-visual-studio-2010-extensions

After doing this, I think you can use the steps to troubleshoot. Or they can help u have fresh Visaul Studio.

Regards,

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Barry Wang [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 4

Thanks. I'll try those suggestions as soon as the issue happens again.