Application crashes on startup - missing Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks

Question

I wrote a simple VB.NET application which works fine on the development machine.

However on another machine, even though the .NET Framework is installed, it crashes

Answer 1

I was upgrading Visual Studio from Visual Studio 2013 to Visual Studio 2015 on a new Windows 10 machine. In doing so I copied my Projects folder from a Windows 7 machine to the same path on the Windows 10 machine.

When I opened a project which used MS.VB.PowerPacks.VS I was informed the file could not be found. I downloaded the newest install for MS.VB.PowerPacks.VS Version 12.0.0.0. Visual Studio 2015 blanked out my form pages which used the PrintForm and informed me:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks.VS, Version 10.0.0.0.

I changed the reference to vcersion 12.0.0.0, but it was still not recognized.

My fix: I copied the the C:\Program Files(x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\VBPowerPacks\v10.0 folder from my Windows 7 machine to my Windows 10 machine, and then removed the v12.0.0.0 reference and added the v10.0.0.0 reference to the program. I then exited the project and opened it again, and all was well, the forms were displayed in their original beauty.