SDK Workaround: Visual C++ cross-compilers fail to launch on 64-bit platforms

This workaround applies to:

·         The prerelease Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .Net Framework 3.5 (RC0), September, 2007

·         The prerelease Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .Net Framework 3.5 (IDS04), July, 2007

On 64-bit platforms, the Visual C++ cross-compilers may fail to launch (e.g., when targeting X86 on a 64-bit platform), generating a Windows Side-by-Side error:

Failed to load system project defaults file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\V6.1\VC\Bin\VCProjectDefaults\ATLStatic.vsprops'. The project cannot load without this file installed. Please re-install the product.

To work around this issue, download and use Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2  or Visual C++ Express if you want to target a platform that is different than the one you are building on.

For more information on the updated Windows SDK compilers, see my post Updated Windows SDK Visual C++ Cross Compilers.  The Visual C++ Team has posted an interesting article, What compiler does the compiler team use and decoding version numbers.  

Read the complete post at http://blogs.msdn.com/karinm/archive/2007/09/05/sdk-workaround-visual-c-cross-compilers-fail-to-launch-on-64-bit-platforms.aspx