From what I can tell when I'm able to reproduce this error, it is caused by being in the middle of installing Windows updates. So, running updates, then postponing a reboot, then attempting to debug code is what was putting me in this broken state.
I had VS 2010 SP1 for ages and had rebooted many times. There wasn't any windows update in progress either. I closed all my VS 2010 IDEs and then opened them, and the problem was gone.
This happens, when you do a WINDOWS UPDATE and haven't rebooted your system and the update isn't compatible with VISUAL STUDIO. So in order to solve this, just do an update on VISUAL STUDIO to latest. That should FIX it
I had this weird issue after installing .net framework 4.5, when using .net 4 for my project.
updating VS 2010 service pack didn't solve this, only removal of .net 4.5 and 4, and then reinstalling .net 4 only.
I encountered the same issue. It happened to me when I attempted to attach to a process for debugging purposes. At the time I had postponed a pending windows update.
Everything started working fine after I restarted my computer and allowed the update to take place.
Additional notes: I had recently updated to Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate and installed its Service Pack 1.