VisualGDB Package Failed to Load

It appears that your system might have a corrupt Visual Studio package cache that would prevent it from loading VisualGDB correctly. This page provides detailed instructions on repairing the cache:

  1. Install VisualGDB again and ensure that the installation succeeds:
  2. Start Visual Studio and open Tools->Extensions and Updates:
  3. Check whether VisualGDB appears in the Extensions and Updates window. If it does, but VisualGDB is still not working, the VisualGDB.pkgdef file might be inconsistent due to Windows Installer database corruption. If this is the case, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this page. If not, your VS extension cache is corrupt and needs to be repaired.
  4. The cache can be easily repaired by installing or removing any other extension via the Extensions and Updated window (extensions installed externally won't trigger the cache rebuild once it is corrupt). E.g. try installing the Image Watch extension from Microsoft:
  5.  Restart Visual Studio and ensure the VSIX installer performs the actual installation:
  6. Start Visual Studio again. It may take a long time to start as it will be rescanning all extensions and rebuilding the extension cache. Once it starts, both Image Watch and VisualGDB should appear under Tools->Extensions and Updates:If you don't need the ImageWatch extension, you can now remove it. Installing it should have fully reset the Visual Studio extension cache, so any subsequent installations of VisualGDB will be detected properly and the cache will be rebuilt.
  7. If installing other extensions doesn't help, your Visual Studio path in the registry might be set incorrectly. Please check that the following file exists:
    8. <Visual Studio Directory>\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Sysprogs\VisualGDB\VisualGDB.pkgdef
  8. If the file doesn't exist, please check that the Visual Studio path in the following registry value is set correctly:
    HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\SxS\VS7\<version>
  9. If you have edited the Visual Studio location in registry, please uninstall VisualGDB and install it back.

Inconsistent VisualGDB.pkgdef file

If the VisualGDB.pkgdef file exists, but the VisualGDB menus are not shown, the problem might be caused by the Windows Installer not removing the old pkgdef file. To solve this problem, try the steps below:

  1. Completely uninstall VisualGDB by double-clicking on its .msi file and selecting "Uninstall".
  2. Manually delete the entire <Visual Studio Directory>\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Sysprogs\VisualGDB and C:\Program Files (x86)\Sysprogs\VisualGDB directories.
  3. Install VisualGDB again. This will keep your preferences and downloaded packages, but should clear out any inconsistencies between various VisualGDB components.

Now you should be able to use VisualGDB. See our tutorials collection for a step-by-step guide describing your setup.