I have a simple question. Is it possible to somehow get a log of what is taking so much time to load when starting VS2010? On a default install, starting the IDE is very quick (~1-2 s), but with a batch of extensions installed, the time taken for the IDE to launch is prohibitive of using it to “just have a peek at a file”.

I know I can “enable and disable extensions one by one”, but I’m looking for a better way that gives me numbers, not ‘feelings’.

Hope someone out there knows a good way to do this.

Edit: Follow-up question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3996242/can-i-selectively-disable-packages-from-loading-into-vs2010

Solution:

You can use devenv /log as detailed here: MSDN Blogs: Troubleshooting Extensions with the Activity Log.

1. Run devenv /log
2. Close the IDE again to close the log Win+R,
3. Run %APPDATA%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\ActivityLog.xsl
4. Wait for it to load in Visual Studio
5. Open %APPDATA%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\ActivityLog.xml in a web browser and it will format itself nicely.