"Unable to activate Windows Store app [GUID]. The [EXE Name] process started, but the activation request failed with error 'The app didn't start'." - Make sure your project is on C!

I spent the day fighting this issue...

Had a Xamarin.Forms app, based on the Cross Platform - Blank App (Shared & also Portable), that worked in the Android emulator, but all the Windows targets would fail. The apps would crash right after start...

---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
A debugger is attached to App4.UWP.exe but not configured to debug this unhandled exception. To debug this exception, detach the current debugger.
---------------------------
OK  
---------------------------

Then

---------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio
---------------------------
Unable to activate Windows Store app 'f736c883-f105-4d30-a719-4bf328872f5e_nh7s0b45jarrj!App'. The App4.UWP.exe process started, but the activation request failed with error 'The app didn't start'.

 

See help for advice on troubleshooting the issue.
---------------------------
OK   Help  
---------------------------

I did a bunch of repairs, re-installs, etc., thinking it was a Xamarin.Forms issue.

Then I did what all dev's should do when troubleshooting, started eliminating variables. "What happens with a standard, non-Xamarin UWP app?"

Same error! Well now we know it isn't Xamarin!

Finally I came across this thread;

[UWP] Unable to activate Windows Store app, the app didn't start - Windows 10 Universal Apps

What can be the problem here? This only happens on universal apps. Classic Desktop projects opens without problems.

Things I already did, some of which are based on solutions I came across while trying to solve this:

• Install Visual Studio 2015 Update 1
• Check for App.config (supposedly, I should delete this; there no such file so I can't really delete it)
• Build > Clean Solution, Build > Rebuild Solution
• Uninstall the output app on the start menu
• Delete `bin` and `obj` folders
• Change the `Package name` in the Package.appxmanifest file
• Change the output from `x86` to `x64` and vice versa
• Change the `Debugger type` in Properties to `Native Only`
• Tried running as `Release` failed, then reverted it back to `Debug`, still failed
• Tried renewing my developer license. It doesn't work for Windows 10 Universal Apps and is only for Windows 8 Apps.
• Tried uninstalling Visual Studio 2015 completely and re-installing. Still nothing.
• NEW: Tried doing a full fresh reformat of Windows 10 still didn't work.

So yeah, I've pretty much exhausted every solution I can find on the internet to try and fix this. If anyone can offer more solutions, I'd be glad to test it out. ...

All of that is what I did too (Except for the VS/Win uninstall/Re-install)

Scrolling down... no the "answer" can't be it! It can't be THAT simple!

"...I even went as far as to do a fresh install of Windows 10 but when the problem still persists, I was about to give up. But I found out another solution that I haven't tried: move the project folder to the C: drive.

Apparently, when I have the project folder on my D: drive, it wouldn't work and will show me the said error...

OMG, all my projects were on my D drive too! It CAN'T be that, can it?

Move the original Xamarin project from D to C and guess what?

Worked like a charm!

 

There are days when I hate technology...

Windows 10, Intel HD Graphics Driver & "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered"? Try turning off 3D Settings...

TLDR;

If you are seeing Display driver stopped responding issues and have an Intel card, try turning off your 3D settings, reboot and see if that helps.

Since upgrading to Windows 10 I've been getting "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" every so often. SnagIt would trigger it, but other apps too.

r

Yet sometimes it would go away, and stop happening.... grrr. I thought it was my Intel 4600 HD driver versions, that updating would fix it and that the issue would come back in later versions.

NOPE!

It was the 3D Settings! A problem I've run into before, sigh, Windows 10 Start Menu Text changing color and to dark to read? Try turning off your Intel 3D settings...

Problem: Intel Video Driver, Windows 10 "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" when using SnagIt and other apps.

Environment: GS60 (Gold), Windows 10 Pro (x64) [upgraded from Windows 8.1), Intel HD 4600 (Driver version 15.40.10.64.4300)]

Fix: Change the Intel 3D settings in the Intel Graphics Control Panel to:

• Application Optimal Mode: Disable
• Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing: Turn Off
• Conservative Morphological Anti-Aliasing: Turn Off
• General Settings: Balanced Mode

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Windows 10 Start Menu Text changing color and to dark to read? Try turning off your Intel 3D settings...

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Windows 10 Start Menu Text changing color and to dark to read? Try turning off your Intel 3D settings...

Problem: Windows 10 Start Menu Text changing color and too dark to read. Edge Favorites Bar background color is dark. Action Center Text to dark to read.

Environment: GS60 (Gold), Windows 10 Pro (x64) [upgraded from Windows 8.1), Intel HD 4600 (Driver version 10.18.15.4256)

Fix: Change the Intel 3D settings in the Intel Graphics Control Panel:

• Application Optimal Mode: Disable
• Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing: Turn Off
• Conservative Morphological Anti-Aliasing:: Turn Off
• General Settings: Balanced Mode

Before:

After:

 

Full Story...

Like tens of millions of others, I upgraded my main machine last week from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. Sure, I've been an Insider for forever and running Win10 on a number of machines, but for my main, I wanted to wait for Day One and experience what everyone else did.

Wednesday night I upgrade. The Get Windows 10 process didn't work for me, so grabbed the ISO, mounted and installed it from there, which worked great.

Thursday everything seems to be okay (once I upgraded a couple drivers...lol) but the text on my Start Menu looked funky. Same with the Action Center. Same with Edge. Funny as in changing colors and becoming so dark I couldn't read it. Check out these screenshots...

See what I mean? Funky.

I updated the video driver, tried contrast settings, color, accent, etc. etc., and nothing worked.

A few others had the problem too (so it wasn't just me going crazy) Windows 10 Start Menu Text too dark to read

Last night RASTX posted how he had the issue and how he fixed it. Which also worked for me too! Woot!

The problem? Intel 3D settings! WWWHHHHaaaattttt? Yeah, 3D settings.

With my Intel HD 4600 3D settings set like this (and a reboot, don't forget that)...

... my Start Menu/Action Center and Edge were back and now normal!

 

I am now a very happy Windows 10 Camper!

Windows Insiders, get the Windows 10 January Update now...

Blogging Windows - January build now available to the Windows Insider Program

I hope that you were able to watch our live stream on Wednesday, where we shared more details on the Windows 10 experience. If you missed it, you can watch the video on demand anytime and read Terry Myerson’s blog post that recaps the latest Windows 10 news. As Terry mentioned, we continue to be humbled by the amount of feedback and excitement we’re seeing from the Windows Insider community.

Some of the new features that Joe demoed on Wednesday will be available for our Windows Insiders starting today with our newest build – 9926. However, not everything you saw on Wednesday is included in this new build. Much is still in-progress and we’re getting it out to you as fast as we can – so you can try it out and give us feedback. Over the course of the next few builds, you will see us refine Windows 10 and continue to improve the experiences as well as quality and stability.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Windows Insider Program, this is our community who is helping us build Windows 10. If you’re not a Windows Insider yet, we’d love to have you join – see below. Also make sure you read the list of known issues at the end of this post before getting started.

We’re pushing Build 9926 out widely, flighting simultaneously to both “Fast” and “Slow” rings simultaneously as well as available on ISOs since it has been a while since we’ve released a new build out to you. I know it was tough to wait for a new build. The gap between 9879 and 9926 is the longest you should expect to see with the program, because of the holidays and the need to add and stabilize feature payloads. We’ll get new builds out faster moving forward – thank you for being patient with us.

Getting started:

...

..."

Installing it now... :)

There's only one "officially" cool thing today, yep... HoloLens!

I'm sure every news outlet and tech writer/blogger is blogging about today's Windows 10 event and about the surprise of the event, the Microsoft HoloLens.

If this thing really works as shown, in the real world, this really could be a new day for computer interaction. Yeah, yeah, we've heard that before and while I love the Kinect, it's just not fulfilled its promise. The HoloLens is the Kinect and so, so, so much more. Or well, could be...

First, check out these videos. IF this thing works about 50% as good as shown here, then it will be officially awesome.

Here's the device page (which is kind of a cool page all by itself).

Microsoft HoloLens

Transform your world with holograms.

We envisioned a world where technology could become more personal—where it could adapt to the natural ways we communicate, learn, and create. Where our digital lives would seamlessly connect with real life.

The result is the world’s most advanced holographic computing platform, enabled by Windows 10. For the first time ever, Microsoft HoloLens brings high-definition holograms to life in your world, where they integrate with your physical places, spaces, and things.

Holograms will improve the way you do things every day, and enable you to do things you’ve never done before.

..."

Can you guess what my guess is for the Build 2015 give-away is? :)

Remember, Build 2015 registration is tomorrow at 9am PST.

Want to play with Windows 10? Have Azure? One quick VM Gallery Visit and you're in...

You don't have an extra PC/notebook/what-ever laying around and don't have access to one with Hyper-V (or other hypervisor) but you have access to Azure via MSDN (or other route)? Then you can start playing with Windows 10 in about 5 minutes...

Microsoft Developer Switzerland News - Try the Windows 10 Technical Preview now without having to install it first!

If you are willing to try it out without having the hassle of upgrading one of your PCs, you may want to consider the possibility of having it running “in the cloud” and accessing it through a remote connection on your PC. This very little invasive approach requires only the Remote Desktop client and minimizes the requirements on your hardware.

All you need is a valid MSDN subscription and access to Microsoft Azure.

On Microsoft Azure you can find a fully preconfigured virtual machine, to which you can connect in just a few clicks. Below, you can find the required steps.

First, you need access to Microsoft Azure. If you don’t have a subscription yet, fortunately there are a few ways to do so for free.

How to gain access to Microsoft Azure for free:

..."

... and this post walks you through all the steps (and it's not hard at all). I did it while on the train home today, how cool is that? :)

The one Windows 10 TP Console Post to rule them all?

Building Apps for Windows - Console Improvements in the Windows 10 Technical Preview

This post was written by Rich Eizenhoefer, a Program Manager in the Microsoft Developer Tools and Runtimes team.

I have some good news about the Windows command line console, conhost.exe. In this blog post, I’m joined by our two console developers, Michael Niksa and Paul Campbell. We’d like to give you an overview of what’s been changed since the console was last updated.  You can check out the improved console today in the Windows 10 Technical Preview.

The changes discussed here are just the start of the console updates we are working on for Windows 10, but we hope you’ll like them. Let’s start with a quick look at the architectural mods and then get into the new features.

Architecture update

Many people consider CMD, PowerShell, or their favorite alternate command line as the console, but it is more subtle than that. Each of these are character-mode applications that run within conhost.exe, the console host, otherwise known simply as the console. The console is responsible for accepting keyboard and mouse input, drawing text to the screen, providing memory buffers and presenting an API for apps to use.

The changes I’ll discuss today apply to conhost.exe, the window that manages input and output for character-mode applications. Since Windows Vista, all console functionality has lived in this single conhost executable. Under the covers, the architecture has changed a bit. The primary function of Conhost.exe now is to load either a DLL containing the original console or one that contains our new code.

...

..."

While there have been a number of Windows 10 TP Console (aka the one of the "shiny" new features in Win10) posts, I think this one should be put to the top of the list. It's really nice and deep, we're talking reg keys, and more.

RSAT for Win10 TP

Microsoft Downloads - Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview

"

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server Technical Preview from a remote computer that is running Windows 10 Technical Preview

Version: 9840

File Name:

WindowsTH-KB2693643-x64.msu

WindowsTH-KB2693643-x86.msu

Date Published: 10/1/2014

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview includes Server Manager, Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins, consoles, Windows PowerShell cmdlets and providers, and command-line tools for managing roles and features that run on Windows Server Technical Preview.

In this preview release of Remote Server Administration Tools, there are some known issues, and tools that are unavailable. For more information about known issues with this release, see the Windows Server Release Notes.

The following management tools are not available in this release of Remote Server Administration Tools.

• BitLocker Drive Encryption administration utilities
• Direct Access
• Routing and Remote Access
• Remote Desktop Services
• Windows PowerShell cmdlets for Cluster Aware Updating
• Windows PowerShell cmdlets for Best Practices Analyzer

...."

Every time I type or say Win 10 TP I'm going to snicker like a little boy... Anyway, now that I have that snicker out...

You've got Win 10 Server installed? Win 10 client? Need the RSAT tools? Well, here you go!

BTW, did you notice the file names?

 

Related Past Post XRef:
RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) for Windows 8.1 already available...
Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows Server 2008 (for Vista SP1)