How to resolve the design-time problem when opening forms in Visual Studio 2005 after updating DevExpress controls

Most likely this problem is due to the fact that VS2005 doesn't allow the assemblies of the new versions to be used within your project. Thus when you try to open the form the framework tries to load older assemblies which have already been replaced with new ones and so the form fails to open.

If you are using DXperience 6.2.2 or higher, please update your project via our ProjectConverter tool. You can launch it from the Start | All Programs menu: Start Menu\Programs\Developer Express .NET 2005 v6.2\Tools.

If you are using an older version, please use one of the following solutions:
1. You should remove all DevExpress assemblies from your project's references and then add new versions manually. This way your application will work until you install the new update of our suites. After installing them you will need to perform this step again.

2. You can change the Specific Version option for each assembly to False. To do this you should right click an assembly within the project's references and select the Properties entry within the context menu. Then within the assembly properties window you should switch off the mentioned option. Finally, you should remove the licenses.licx file from your project save it and restart Visual Studio. This way your project will work correctly when you install the next update to our suites.

See Also:
Troubleshooting design-time problems
Upgrade Notes
Component designers are unavailable. Components are not displayed on forms in design mode
How to fix the NullReferenceException when creating a component by dragging its icon from the Toolbox
Upgrading my Project to a New Version of Xtra~ Controls - It's Easy!