I tested the NETAction and VBNETAction sample actions, and when targeting .NET 2.0, 4.0, and 4.5, the actions built properly in Visual Build 8.1 (64- and 32-bit editions). Running VBP as administrator, are you able to build the User Actions.bld sample, which registers and builds these custom actions?
http://www.kinook.com/VisBuildPro/Ma...rdefaction.htm
Does VS crash when you add the reference, or when doing something else?