The provided package is already installed, and reinstallation of the package was blocked - Blend and XAML Design view

Question

Interesting enough, today after restarting windows 8, a different problem surfaced with Design view on xaml files.  This time, VS displayed the following error msg, and the test apps can no longer be launched in debug/simulator, even though it can be built.

It seems there are endless problems with VS Express 2012 and Blend for Windows, and we are unable to start developing Windows Store app. BTW, VS Express 2012 for Windows Phone is working as expected on the same PC.

System.Exception

The provided package is already installed, and reinstallation of the package was blocked. Check the AppXDeployment-Server event log for details. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFB)

   at Microsoft.Expression.HostUtility.Platform.AppContainerProcessDomainFactory.CreateDesignerProcess(String applicationPath, String clientPort, Uri hostUri, IDictionary environmentVariables, Int32& processId, Object& processData)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.Primitives.ProcessDomainFactory.ProcessIsolationDomain..ctor(ProcessDomainFactory factory, IIsolationBoundary boundary, AppDomainSetup appDomainInfo, FrameworkName targetFramework, String identifier, String baseDirectory)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.Primitives.ProcessDomainFactory.CreateIsolationDomain(IIsolationBoundary boundary)   at Microsoft.Expression.HostUtility.Platform.AppContainerProcessDomainFactory.CreateIsolationDomain(IIsolationBoundary boundary)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.Primitives.IsolationBoundary.Initialize()   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.Primitives.IsolationBoundary.CreateInstance[T](Type type)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.IsolatedExportProvider.Initialize()   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExpressionHost.Services.VSIsolationService.CreateExportProvider(IIsolationTarget isolationTarget, ICatalogFactory catalogFactory, IExportFilter filter)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.IsolationService.CreateLease(IIsolationTarget isolationTarget)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.IsolatedDesignerService.CreateLease(IIsolationTarget isolationTarget, CancellationToken cancelToken, DesignerServiceEntry& entry)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.IsolatedDesignerService.IsolatedDesignerView.CreateDesignerViewInfo(CancellationToken cancelToken)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.IsolatedTaskScheduler.InvokeWithCulture[T](CultureInfo culture, Func`2 func, CancellationToken cancelToken)   at Microsoft.Expression.DesignHost.Isolation.IsolatedTaskScheduler.<>c__DisplayClassa`1.<StartTask>b__6()   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.InnerInvoke()   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()

Answer 1

Hi,

   Can u send the error log info to me at harikm at microsoft dot com. The error log can be found here in the EventViewer : Applications and Service \ Microsoft \ Windows \ AppxDeployment - Server. 

---

Dev@Mic

Answer 2

Any progress on this? I am getting the exact same error.

Answer 3

Here's the first few errors from the event log:

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server
Date:          03/12/2012 19:19:31
Event ID:      404
Task Category: (3)
Level:         Error
Keywords:      AppXDeploymentServer Keyword
User:          MARK-XPS-2\Mark
Computer:      Mark-XPS-2
Description:
error 0x80073CFB: AppX Deployment operation failed. The specific error text for this failure is: Windows cannot register package App.af1cc0c4a.abc87.a469b.a841c.a7cde7ce21ca8 because it is in development mode and the package is already installed. Increment the version number of the package to be registered, or remove the old package for every user on the system before registering this package.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server" Guid="{3F471139-ACB7-4A01-B7A7-FF5DA4BA2D43}" />
    <EventID>404</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>3</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x4000000000000001</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-12-03T19:19:31.991663100Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1155</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation ActivityID="{3D5FDA26-CCF2-0004-49D2-633DF2CCCD01}" />
    <Execution ProcessID="11612" ThreadID="15284" />
    <Channel>Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational</Channel>
    <Computer>Mark-XPS-2</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-21-3292843128-3158892475-3963106223-1001" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="SummaryError">Windows cannot register package App.af1cc0c4a.abc87.a469b.a841c.a7cde7ce21ca8 because it is in development mode and the package is already installed. Increment the version number of the package to be registered, or remove the old package for every user on the system before registering this package.</Data>
    <Data Name="ErrorCode">0x80073cfb</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server
Date:          03/12/2012 19:19:31
Event ID:      401
Task Category: (3)
Level:         Error
Keywords:      AppXDeploymentServer Keyword
User:          MARK-XPS-2\Mark
Computer:      Mark-XPS-2
Description:
Deployment Register operation on Package App.af1cc0c4a.abc87.a469b.a841c.a7cde7ce21ca8_1.0.0.0_x86_NorthAmerica_8wekyb3d8bbwe from:  (C:\Users\Mark\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\Designer\ShadowCache\3i1krinu.zbj\qncet50c.yiu\AppXManifest.xml)  failed with error 0x80073CFB. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=235160 for help diagnosing app deployment issues.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server" Guid="{3F471139-ACB7-4A01-B7A7-FF5DA4BA2D43}" />
    <EventID>401</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>3</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x4000000000000001</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-12-03T19:19:31.991663100Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1154</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation ActivityID="{3D5FDA26-CCF2-0004-49D2-633DF2CCCD01}" />
    <Execution ProcessID="11612" ThreadID="15284" />
    <Channel>Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational</Channel>
    <Computer>Mark-XPS-2</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-21-3292843128-3158892475-3963106223-1001" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="DeploymentOperation">6</Data>
    <Data Name="PackageFullName">App.af1cc0c4a.abc87.a469b.a841c.a7cde7ce21ca8_1.0.0.0_x86_NorthAmerica_8wekyb3d8bbwe</Data>
    <Data Name="Path"> (C:\Users\Mark\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\Designer\ShadowCache\3i1krinu.zbj\qncet50c.yiu\AppXManifest.xml) </Data>
    <Data Name="ErrorCode">0x80073cfb</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server
Date:          03/12/2012 19:19:31
Event ID:      605
Task Category: (3)
Level:         Information
Keywords:      AppXDeploymentServer Keyword
User:          MARK-XPS-2\Mark
Computer:      Mark-XPS-2
Description:
The last successful state reached was Indexed.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server" Guid="{3F471139-ACB7-4A01-B7A7-FF5DA4BA2D43}" />
    <EventID>605</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>4</Level>
    <Task>3</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x4000000000000001</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-12-03T19:19:31.990663900Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1153</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation ActivityID="{3D5FDA26-CCF2-0004-49D2-633DF2CCCD01}" />
    <Execution ProcessID="11612" ThreadID="15284" />
    <Channel>Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational</Channel>
    <Computer>Mark-XPS-2</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-21-3292843128-3158892475-3963106223-1001" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="DeploymentState">2</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server
Date:          03/12/2012 19:19:31
Event ID:      423
Task Category: (4)
Level:         Error
Keywords:      AppXDeploymentServer Keyword
User:          MARK-XPS-2\Mark
Computer:      Mark-XPS-2
Description:
Windows cannot register package App.af1cc0c4a.abc87.a469b.a841c.a7cde7ce21ca8 because it is in development mode and the package is already installed. Increment the version number of the package to be registered, or remove the old package for every user on the system before registering this package.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server" Guid="{3F471139-ACB7-4A01-B7A7-FF5DA4BA2D43}" />
    <EventID>423</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>4</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x4000000000000001</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-12-03T19:19:31.990663900Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1152</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation ActivityID="{3D5FDA26-CCF2-0004-49D2-633DF2CCCD01}" />
    <Execution ProcessID="11612" ThreadID="15284" />
    <Channel>Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational</Channel>
    <Computer>Mark-XPS-2</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-21-3292843128-3158892475-3963106223-1001" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="PackageMoniker">App.af1cc0c4a.abc87.a469b.a841c.a7cde7ce21ca8</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Answer 4

The problem finally got fixed automatically by recent updates of Win8 and VS2012.

Answer 5

thanks. I rebooted my PC and then when I loaded VS again it came up saying it needed to set some directory permissions, and that seems to have got it working now.