c++ - How to install Visual Studio Build Tools 2010 on Visual Studio 2015 Community?

Question

I have a project created on Visual Studio 2010. When I try to run the project on Visual Studio 2015 Community edition I get the error below,

Severity Code Description Project File Line Error MSB8020 The build tools for Visual Studio 2010 (Platform Toolset = 'v100') cannot be found. To build using the v100 build tools, please install Visual Studio 2010 build tools. Alternatively, you may upgrade to the current Visual Studio tools by selecting the Project menu or right-click the solution, and then selecting "Retarget solution". graphics C:Program Files (x86)MSBuildMicrosoft.Cppv4.0V140Microsoft.Cpp.Platform.targets 55

And when I tried to build it with Visual Studio 2015 Build Tools I encountered about 1500+ errors.

Is there any way to make the project work?

Answer 1

If you can't install VS2010, Windows SDK for Windows 7 contains needed compiler tools (v100), you may actually skip installing the SDK itself and install only the compiler tools, headers and libs. Please note, that the compiler included in Windows SDK is the same that VS2010 has, but VS2010 SP1 has a bit newer compiler. If you need that, you'll also need to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1. But be aware, that if you install these, you may have issues later if you decide to install VS2010, there are bugs in installer that requires you to install components in strict order. Also, if your code uses MFC or ATL you must install VS2010, installing Windows SDK will not be enough.