Microsoft Office VSTO Add-in changes not reflected after build - visual-studio

We have developed VSTO add-in for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Recently, we changed the friendly name (FriendlyName) and description (OfficeApplicationDescription) of the add-ins in csproj project files.
Our aim is to change the name and description that will be displayed in the Manage add-ins screen in Office apps. After changing the project file, if I run the code from Visual Studio, I can see my changes reflected in the Manage add-ins screen. However, when we install the add-in in non-development machines, we noticed that still old name and description is displayed.
I confirmed that the manifest file in the non-development machine has my updated name and description, but Office still shows the old values.
I tried clearing cache in the below folders:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\
%userprofile%\local Settings\Application Data\assembly
Still the issue occurs.

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Outlook 2016 Add-In doesn't work for some users

We've created an Outlook add-in which integrates our custom CRM with Outlook. A command button is added to messages in read and compose mode. A function file is called on the button click.
The add-in manifest passes validation and installs properly on all machines. However on Outlook 2016 desktop (only) we are seeing an error on some machines. The exact error message says: “We’re sorry, we couldn’t access [NCS Outlook Add-in]. Make sure you have a network connection. If the problem continues, please try again later.” ([NCS Outlook Add-In] is the name of our add-in.)
Note that this message appears IMMEDIATELY after clicking the add-in command button. It does not first say “[NCS Outlook Add-in] is working on your request” like it add-ins do when an error has occurred.
We have tried Outlook logging and haven't found anything useful in the logs. We've checked settings and disabled other add-ins. We have also tested across machines with user accounts. The same user will have the error on one machine and not the other. In short, it seems that the error is machine specific and not profile related.
Version of Office 365 installed: 1705 (Build 8201.2209).
We experienced this exact behavior in Outlook 2016, the solution was to enable protected mode for the restricted and internet zones.
The easiest way to change this is in IE.
In Internet Explorer, click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
Click the Security tab, and then select the Restricted Sites Zone.
Select the Enable Protected Mode check box, and then click OK.
Restart Internet Explorer.
Here is a little more information:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2761180/apps-for-office-don-t-start-if-you-disable-protected-mode-for-the-rest
Try this:
1) Close Outlook
2) Rename the folder C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
to C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.OLD
(Where %USERNAME% is current User Name.)
3) Start Outlook, Setup User Profile
4) Add/Test Add-In.
If that works, then something broken on old Outlook profile. But if same problem: Exit Outlook, delete the Outlook folder and rename Outlook.OLD back to Outlook.
I ran into this exact same problem after uninstalling Visual Studio 2015 on my development machine. (I had been using Visual Studio 2017 for Outlook add-in development.)
The problem went away as soon as I reinstalled Visual Studio 2017. The Outlook 2016 installation had nothing to do with the problem, I never changed Outlook or its profile at all.
This would indicate that the problem is somehow related to the SDK tooling on the machine...perhaps something to do with the .Net framework?
If I ran into this problem on a customer machine I would try reinstalling or repairing the .Net framework, or perhaps reinstalling Outlook (assuming it contains some add-in tooling that is broken.)
Just passing this on in case it helps anyone else.

Unable to register Outlook Add-in no matter what

I've been developing an Outlook Add-in, been working and installing fine.
Then I tried to installed a really old version of the same add-in (trying to verify some old behaviour, the old plugin was for Outlook 2010), and it somehow messed up the install/uninstall process. Ever since then Office Outlook 2016/365 is not able to register/view the Add-in anymore.
I've tried the following:
Uninstall and Reinstall Outlook
Removes all the registry entries related to the Add-in (I literally search with the Add-in's keyword and removed hundreds of left over entries which I wasn't even aware of)
Deleted c:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office
Deleted c:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office
Deleted c:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\MyAddIn
Ran CCleaner
Ran RegDllView to scan all the registered DLLs, and it says C:\WINDOWS\system32\mscoree.dll is "missing"? But is there...
Tried to uninstall and reinstall Add-in Express before recompile the whole project.
If i try to manually add the Add-in in Microsoft Outlook, Options > Add-ins > Manage > Add, if i point it to MyAddIn.dll it would say that it is not a valid COM Add-in (but nothing was changed in the project on how the dll was built). If i point it to adxloader.dll and hit OK, it won't complaint but nothing shows under Add-in either.
My next option is to completely reinstall Windows, this is driving me insane. Can anyone who have experienced this insanity give me some pointers?
Operating System: Windows 10
Office: Office 365 Outlook

Outlook Addin starts up inactive

This is a very strange situation that I am in; scratching my head for answers.
I have developed an outlook addin that works perfectly on my dev machine and on about 90 % of the clients machines.
The load behavior of the addin is 3.
On 10% of the users, outlook starts up without loading the addin despite the load behaviour being 3. The user can manually make the addin active by going to the addin manager on outlook but after a restart this addin reverts back to being inactive bbut load behavior never changes from 3.
I used Install Shield LE to package this addin. I don't even know where to debug anymore, I tried changing different load behaviour values but still the same outcome. The addin just won't load on startup with this set of users.
The company uses ZenWorks to automatically install the addin on all the PCs from the MSI i generate using install shield.
One weird thing is, If i go to the installation directory of the addin and install the addin using the .vsto deployment file, it works and gets loaded on outlook (but thats makes it two addins installed).
I also checked the Resiliency section on the registry and the addin isn't there.
I have faced this issue. To solve this, you need to manually delete the registry entries from the following path.
Open registry editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\<Your add-in> and change the LoadBehavior to 3.
If the above registry entry is not found, then look for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\<Your add-in> and change the LoadBehavior to 3.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Resiliency – remove the REG_BINARY keys found in DisabledItems and CrashingAddinList
where 15.0 is for outlook 2013.
If you are using 2010 outlook, replace 15.0 by 14.0 and for Outlook 2016 replace 15.0 by 16.0
Hope this helps.

Create MSI file from c# outlook addin in VS 2013

I have c# outlook addin created in visual studio 2013.
It has windows forms also.
I am getting mad on generating msi file, any easier solution/steps for me, please ?
Mainly tell me, after completing the process, where do I find the final MSI file (like bin/release folder) ?
I installed this - https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/9abe329c-9bba-44a1-be59-0fbf6151054d
as well as installshield limited edition installer.
I was able to build it and ran the installation file(.exe) from disks folder and it is installing but not showing anything in the outlook.
Take a look at the Deploying an Office Solution section in MSDN. It describes two possible options for deploying your Office solution in depth:
Deploying an Office Solution by Using Windows Installer
Deploying an Office Solution by Using ClickOnce
It is up to you which way is to choose.
I was able to build it and ran the installation file(.exe) from disks folder and it is installing but not showing anything in the outlook.
There are multiple reasons why you don't see your add-in in Office applications.
First of all, make sure that you did all the steps described in the previously mentioned articles. Then I'd suggest checking the required windows registry keys for COM add-ins, see Registry Entries for Application-Level Add-Ins for more information.
Microsoft Office applications can disable add-ins that behave unexpectedly. If an application does not load your add-in, the application might have hard disabled or soft disabled your add-in.
Hard disabling can occur when an add-in causes the application to close unexpectedly. It might also occur on your development computer if you stop the debugger while the Startup event handler in your add-in is executing.
Soft disabling can occur when an add-in produces an error that does not cause the application to unexpectedly close. For example, an application might soft disable an add-in if it throws an unhandled exception while the Startup event handler is executing.
You can read more about that in the How to: Re-enable an Add-in That Has Been Disabled article in MSDN.
Finally, you may also check out the Trust Center settings in Outlook. The Macro Security settings can be applied to add-ins as well. May be it is required to sign the add-in with a digial signature and etc.

Source Control icons have disappeared in Visual Studio 2010

Today I installed Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate - RTM.
One item that I noticed that is different is that files listed in the Solution Explorer window not longer display the source control icons beside each file (the lock, unlocked, plus sign for new files, etc.).
Is there a setting that I am overlooking to display these icons?
I have setup Visual Studio 2010 to use my source control client correctly (SourceGear Vault), and it does appear to be working OK -- I'm just used to seeing the little icons by each file.
Anyone out there experiencing this problem? Is there something I can do to get the icons back?
Update: SourceGear technical support confirms that this is a known bug, workitem 15021. It doesn't have anything to do with the conversion; it's just that in VS 2010 web projects, only the solution file has the lock icon or "glyph." This will be fixed a maintenance release, but I'm not sure how soon it will be.
I'm guessing that you need to reinstall Vault so it can apply settings to the new IDE. I have to do the same for Ankh (subversion) to show icons in VS2010.

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