Visual Studio may freeze or crash when running on a pen-enabled machine

Reported by Paul Chapman May 11, 2017 at 08:47 PM visual studio 2017 windows 10.0 fixed in: visual studio 2017 version 15.6

Under certain conditions, Visual Studio may terminate unexpectedly (a freeze / hang followed by a crash) when running on a pen-enabled machine with Windows 10 Creators Update, or other Windows versions when Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7 is installed. This issue affects all versions of Visual Studio. You can confirm this is the cause of this unexpected termination by reviewing the Windows Error Reports for Devenv.exe. To do this:

Open the Windows Event Viewer.
Under Windows Logs, click Application.
Under Actions, click Find.
Search for “PenIMC.dll”

This issue is the cause of the termination if there is an Application Error reported as

Faulting application name: devenv.exe
Faulting module name: PenIMC.dll, version 4.7.x.x

This is a known issue that will be addressed in an upcoming Windows Update.

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Dave Smits · May 20, 2017 at 02:50 PM 4

any ETA when the fix will roll out?

Sébastien Côté · May 30, 2017 at 01:52 PM 1

Any update? The workaround does not work for me. It's very frustating working on VS2017 with this bug.

Guinea-Pig · May 31, 2017 at 07:27 AM 2

Sorry to say, but after last update VS 2017 15.2 (26430.12) this is even worse.

Paul Chapman [MSFT] ♦ Guinea-Pig · May 31, 2017 at 04:33 PM 0

At this time, you must re-apply the workaround in devenv.exe.config after each Visual Studio update. Can you confirm that you've re-applied the workaround to the config file?

Morel, Jared · May 31, 2017 at 12:32 PM 1

This workaround resolved this issue for me running VS 2017 (version 15.2, build 26430.6) on Windows 10 (version 1703, build 15063.296). Thanks Paul for providing this. Keep us posted on the official fix.

Rob LaDuca [MSFT] · Jun 06, 2017 at 04:12 PM 1

Thank you for your feedback! We have fixed the problem in an upcoming release. Thank you for helping us build a better Visual Studio!

Kyle Gruber · Jun 19, 2017 at 02:45 PM 1

Any updates on this??? This bug is affecting a WPF app I have in production.

Adam C Mihlfried · Jun 20, 2017 at 03:59 PM 1

Agreed, affecting WPF production application that requires pen and touch capability.

Ryan Hill · Oct 13, 2017 at 12:29 PM 1

@Paul Chapman do you or anyone else know if 1709 fixes this issue or will there need to be a KB issued?

I can confirm that Fall Creators Update doesn't resolve this issue.

Preeti Kurup [MSFT] Ryan Hill · Oct 17, 2017 at 10:54 PM 1

This issue has been fixed in 1607( Anniversary Update) and legacy OSes. You can expect the fix to be included in the next servicing update for Creators Update and Fall Creators Update. Details on how to get this update is available in our monthly blog -

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dotnet/2017/10/17/net-framework-october-2017-preview-of-quality-rollup/

Artur Roszak Preeti Kurup [MSFT] · Nov 22, 2017 at 03:37 AM 0

not fixed, still happening in 1607 (windows 10 LTSB)

Sanjeev Reddy [MSFT] · Nov 07, 2017 at 10:54 PM 1

This started happening to me nonstop in the last week.VS version 15.3.5.NET verion 4.7.03016OS: 17030.rs_prerelease.171027-1609Watson is filled with devenv crashes from my machine blamed on the pen dll

Michel Condemine · Nov 12, 2017 at 02:12 PM 2

I already report this issue. I still usiong VS2013 and we have the same problem. It was suppose to be fixed with the next version. I just update to Windows 10 1709. The problem is back more than ever.. VS Team what are you doing ?

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Added a solution by Paul Chapman [MSFT] · Mar 14 at 08:36 PM

The root cause for this long-standing crash with PenIMC is in Windows, typically on touch- or stylus-enabled machines. We implemented a fix in WPF to prevent this crash. We’ve tested the fix for several months, including on Windows Insider releases, and found that the crash does not repro on machines with the fix. The fix is now available from Windows Update. We invite you to install the update and re-enable touch scrolling if you had disabled it. If you continue to see frequent crashes that involve PenIMC, then we definitely want to hear from you.

Steps to address the fix

Install the update, and restart your computer.
- Windows 10 version 1709 (KB4074588 or later)
- Windows 10 version 1703 (KB4088782 or later)
- Windows 10 version 1607 and Windows Server 2016 (KB4088787 or later)
- Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 (KB4074807)
- Windows 7: the fix is not yet available.
Re-enable touch scrolling.

How to Re-enable touch scrolling

The process to re-enable touch scrolling depends on how you disabled it.

Option A: By using Tools Options (in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.5 and later)

Open Tools options, and navigate to the General page under Environment.
Remove the checkmark next to “Disable touch scrolling”, and restart Visual Studio.

Option B: devenv.exe.config

Find the devenv.exe.config file in the folder <VS Install Location>\Common7\IDE, and open it in a text editor.
Find the <AppContextSwitchOverrides> element, and delete the attribute “Switch.System.Windows.Input.Stylus.DisableStylusAndTouchSupport=true”
Restart Visual Studio.

Option C: System wide

Open Computer Management (compmgmt.msc).
Under "System Tools", select "Device Manager", and then Expand "Human Interface Devices".
Right-click "HID-compliant touch screen", and select "Enable".
Reboot your computer.

Workarounds if you cannot install the Windows Update

We strongly encourage you to keep Windows up to date with the latest security and reliability fixes. If you are unable to install the update, and are experiencing this problem, you may disable touch scrolling for Visual Studio.

By using Tools Options (in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.5 and later)

Open Tools options, and navigate to the General page under Environment.
Select the option “Disable touch scrolling”, and restart Visual Studio.

By using devenv.exe.config (Visual Studio 2017 version 15.4 and earlier, and Visual Studio 2015)

Find the devenv.exe.config file in the folder <VS Install Location>\Common7\IDE, and open it in a text editor.
Find the <AppContextSwitchOverrides> element, and add the attribute “Switch.System.Windows.Input.Stylus.DisableStylusAndTouchSupport=true”
Restart Visual Studio.

[Note: for clarity, we have removed other solutions from this post to make this solution easier to find. Thank you everyone for your patience on this issue.]

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Gustavo Calheiros · Mar 15 at 10:06 AM 0

Hello!

The bug is still reproducible, even having this update installed since 14h February. Do you need more info?

Paul Chapman [MSFT] ♦ Gustavo Calheiros · Mar 15 at 02:14 PM 0

Gustavo -- just to confirm, with KB4074588 installed on Windows 10 version 1709, and with touch scrolling enabled for Visual Studio, you're still experiencing a crash in Visual Studio with PenIMC on the call stack? Can you capture a dump and upload it for us?

Thanks!

-Paul

Gustavo Calheiros Paul Chapman [MSFT] ♦ · Mar 19 at 10:18 AM 0

attached in:

https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/205823/exception-after-kb4058258-with-wacom-tablets-1.html

Santiago Estrada Rubio · May 09 at 11:06 AM 0

Visual Studio 2017 15.7 works well with W10 1709 and the fix installed. But I have a WPF NET Framework 3.5 legacy application that hangs on computers with touch enabled, and I would like to know which versions of NET Framework the fix applies to.

Roi Chen [MSFT] ♦ Santiago Estrada Rubio · May 16 at 09:51 AM 0

Hi Santiago, Can you create a new report by using Report A Problem in Visual Studio (It's on the Help Menu under Send Feedback)since this issue has been closed for a long time? Thank you for your patience.

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