Could not load file or assembly Microsoft.Dynamics.Framework.UI.WinForms.Controls or one of its dependencies

By Steve Endow

While working in Visual Studio, there are few things worse than being unable to open a WinForm and seeing an error like this:


I was working on a VS Tools AddIn and when I attempted to open a form, this screen was displayed.  It had this error message.

Could not load file or assembly Microsoft.Dynamics.Framework.UI.WinForms.Controls or one of its dependencies


I hate this error window in Visual Studio, because most of the time I have no idea what the problem is or how to resolve it.  I can deduce that there is some problem with the form, but that's about it.

Fortunately, in this case, the error was specific enough that I knew it had to do with some GP WinForm components.  And even more fortunately, a Google search turned up a forum post where someone else had experienced the same error.

Thankfully, that user had solved the problem and was nice enough to post the solution:  Reinstall VS Tools.

I nervously reinstalled VS Tools for GP 2013, and behold, I could open my form in Designer mode in Visual Studio again.

Whew.  Crisis averted.