Repro steps: (1) Start VS2008 and Create a Windows Forms app in VB.NET. (2) Select <Project/Add New Item...> menu. (3) Select Resources File template, name it as Form1Resources.resx, and click Add button. (4) Add the following code in Form1.vb: Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load Dim msg As String = "Hello world." MessageBox.Show(msg) End Sub (5) Right-click on the string and select "Move String To Resource" menu. (6) Select Form1Resources.resx for the Resource file. (7) Click Next button twice. (8) Now, the code is changed as shown below: Dim msg As String = Form1Resources.World (9) So far, so good. (10) Right-click on the .World and select <Refactor/Rename...> menu. (11) Change world to Hello. (12) Click Next button twice. (13) The code is changed as shown below: Dim msg As String = Form1Resources.Hello (14) Now, Form1Resources.Hello is undefined because the tool didn't rename it in the Form1Resources.resx file.