Hi I've built the SDM SDK samples and after playing with them I now want to uninstall them.

Using control panel->remove software which runs the WiX uninstaller created for each project doesn't get rid of the icons still showing on the toolbox... is the uninstalling process supposed to properly get rid of registry entries? I was expecting the uninstaller to totally clean any samples traces in VS... am I wrong?

Uninstalling the msi with samples (that Wix uninstaller you have mentioned) will remove all of the files and registry keys. The issue is that the VS toolbox caches a prototype the first time it is loaded and keeps it there.

I just tried the resetting... and now the toolbox shows totally empty...

All icons are gone and not just the ones that I uninstalled, I open an AD file and I don't get the proper toolbox items with the built-in shapes to use...

Please help me get my icons back.

It is very odd, and I am truly sorry that you are having this problem. I would really appreciate if you can help me debug the problem and find the correct solution.

Let's try a few different approaches, and if they don't work, I would like to talk to you offline to understand how I can reproduce the error (our QA is also working on trying to do that).

Path 1:

1) Open VS, make sure you have only one instance of devenv.exe running (through task manager);

2) Menu: Tools/Import and Export Settings select Reset All Settings;

3) Restart VS.

If that does not work:

In the registry delete all subkeys (if there are any) , except PrototypesFolder1 from this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\EnterpriseTools\DesignerPrototypeFolders and repeat Path 1.

If still no icons, let's try path 2:

Path 2:

1) Close all VS instances, make sure no devenv.exe running.

2) From command line run:

rd /s /q "%AppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0"
rd /s /q "%AppData%\..\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0"
rd /s /q "%AppData%\..\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\VisualStudio\devices\8.0"

Delete the registry entries if they exist (same as above).

3) Make sure no devenv.exe is running, and then run devenv /setup from command line.