The dev tools team recently released update 1 for the Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova, however this update can cause VS to hang and/or other issues with Cordova projects. This is a known issue and it is one that impacts early adopters most of all because it is the combination of two things that cause this to happen, one being the update the second being the original Windows 10 SDK. There was an issue with the SDK and it was re-released a few days after the initial release with a fix, but anyone with the original bits will have a problem – this includes anyone installing VS 2015 from the ISO while not connected to the internet (if you are connected, even if you use the ISO, it will get the latest bits).

Workaround

If you have not yet installed the tools, the check is simple – open the registry and make sure you have the following key:

• For x86: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Setup\VS\JSLS_MSI\Version
• For x64: HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Setup\VS\JSLS_MSI\Version

if you do not have that registry key, you are at risk of this issue and you should do the following:

Ensure you have an internet connection BEFORE you start this.

1. Go to Programs and Features, select Visual Studio 2015, click Change.
2. In Visual Studio setup, click Modify.
3. Deselect the feature Tools for Universal Windows App Development.
4. Select Tools for Universal Windows App Development again, and click Update.

(basically forcing the VS installer to get the latest SDK bits and install those which means the issue doesn’t occur)

If you have already uninstalled the Tools for Universal Windows Apps Development

1. Reinstall Tools for Universal Windows App Development.
2. Or, take the following steps to reinstall the JavaScript project system and language service:
   1. Download the installer for your edition of Visual Studio, such as, vs_community.exe.
   2. Open a command window, and run the following command:
      vs_community.exe /modify /installselectableitems JavaScript_Hidden /passive
   3. Change directories to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE
   4. Run the following commands
      devenv /updateconfiguration
      devenv /clearcache

(thanks to Paul Chapman on the forums for this information)