I've recently got myself a copy of Windows 8 (Debug/Checked build for a 64-bit OS). Having fiddled with it for a while, I got .NET 3.5 installed on it, along with Visual C# Express Edition 2008. Now, I know this is a very old version, but please do not just tell me to update. I need to use this version. The same goes with XNA 3.1.
With a bit more fiddling, I got XNA 3.1 to work using this fix.
Now, however, I tried to build my project that I'd been working on in Windows 7. The first time, it give me a content pipeline error, saying that one of the resources had thrown an invalid error. I would post that here, but I can't replicate it (I don't actually think it is of any significance). All subsequent times, the build has been fine, but the project window does not appear. The output window on the console, which usually brings up a list of stuff it does before running the project, now has just one line: (Managed): Loaded 'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\mscorlib\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\mscorlib.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled. Which is a line that also appeared on all my successful builds in Windows 7, but then it was followed by more, similar lines. Now it is not. The debugger never progresses from there. If I try to pause the debugger, it gives me this error: Unable to break execution. The debugger is still attaching to the process.
If anyone has any idea what would cause this error, I would very much like some help here. I do have a dual boot set up, so I can still work on my project, but constantly rebooting any time I want to work on a project is more than a little inconvenient.
Unfortunately for you, probably the problem is with the version of XNA you're using, you're working on Windows 8 so maybe it's not so compatible with XNA 3.1