Visual Studio hangs on build

Question

When I try to build my projects in Visual Studio 2008, web sites won't build anymore, they hang on this stage:

------ Build started: Project: C:\...\Web\, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
Validating Web Site
Building directory '/Web/Admin/Secure/'.
Building directory '/Web/Admin/'.
Building directory '/Web/Students/'.
Building directory '/Web/'.

Validation Complete

And I have to cancel it as it doesn't complete even after leaving it for an hour. Does anyone have any ideas on what's going on? Class libraries build fine.

Answer 1

I have had a similar problem problem before.

I fixed it by making a new solution file and adding the projects again - it might be worth giving that a go.

Answer 2

Try clearing out all the temporary files in C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\<Framwork Version>\Temporary ASP.NET Files that has solved similar issues for me in the past.

Answer 3

I have also run into this problem in the past. I was able to correct it by going to Build -> Clean Solution.

Answer 4

This can also often happen in the event that you have a 3rd party control that is not licensed\registered properly. It may be attempting to display a warning\registration UI that is not making it to focus. We have had this issue on our build servers alot.

Answer 5

switch to netbeans pals! or eclipse!

I cannot believe visual studio is such a piece of crap! I've been working with it for a month now and I just can't believe that there is so much people working with this crap. Get rid of it, if you can! Don't overestimate the cost of letting it go. I know what I am talking about!

Answer 6

I just had the same problem. Turns out it was with a User Control I created to be transparent. While I was figuring it out, I accidentally had it invalidating the form from the control's OnPaint method, resulting in an infinite loop of painting. VS would never even start building if that control was present in any of the open designers, though it would lock everything out as if it were building. I couldn't update the designers with a fixed control because the control wouldn't build.

My Answer: Take out the painting loop, close the designers, rebuild.

Oh, designer...

Answer 7

If your .suo file has gotten too big, you may try to delete/move/rename it. VS will create a new version on your next build.