Cannot open Windows.h in Microsoft Visual Studio

Question

First of all: I'm using Microsoft Visual Studio 2012

I am a C#/Java developer and I am now trying to program for the kinect using Microsoft SDK and C++. So I started of with the Color Basics example, and I can not get it to compile. At first, none of the classes were able to find Windows.h. So I installed (Or re-installed, I'm not sure) the Windows SDK, and added the include dir of the SDK to the include "path" of the project. Then all the problems were gone, except for one:

Error   5   error RC1015: cannot open include file 'windows.h'. C:\temp\ColorBasics-D2D\ColorBasics.rc  17  1   ColorBasics-D2D 

And thats the error. No reasons why, the system can find it because it is used in multiple other files, only this file is not able to work with it. As a reference, the entire file that is bugging (ColorBasics.rc):

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------ // <copyright file="ColorBasics-D3D.rc" company="Microsoft"> //     Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved. // </copyright> //------------------------------------------------------------------------------  // Microsoft Visual C++ generated resource script. // #include "resource.h"  #define APSTUDIO_READONLY_SYMBOLS ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // Generated from the TEXTINCLUDE 2 resource. // #define APSTUDIO_HIDDEN_SYMBOLS #include "windows.h" #undef APSTUDIO_HIDDEN_SYMBOLS  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// #undef APSTUDIO_READONLY_SYMBOLS  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // English (United States) resources  #if !defined(AFX_RESOURCE_DLL) || defined(AFX_TARG_ENU) LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // Icon //  // Icon with lowest ID value placed first to ensure application icon // remains consistent on all systems. IDI_APP                 ICON                    "app.ico"  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // Dialog //  IDD_APP DIALOGEX 0, 0, 512, 424 STYLE DS_SETFONT | DS_FIXEDSYS | WS_MINIMIZEBOX | WS_CLIPCHILDREN | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU EXSTYLE WS_EX_CONTROLPARENT | WS_EX_APPWINDOW CAPTION "Color Basics" CLASS "ColorBasicsAppDlgWndClass" FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg", 400, 0, 0x1 BEGIN     DEFPUSHBUTTON   "Screenshot",IDC_BUTTON_SCREENSHOT,238,391,50,14     CONTROL         "",IDC_VIDEOVIEW,"Static",SS_BLACKFRAME,0,0,512,384     LTEXT           "Press 'Screenshot' to save a screenshot to your 'My Pictures' directory.",IDC_STATUS,0,413,511,11,SS_SUNKEN,WS_EX_CLIENTEDGE END   ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // DESIGNINFO //  #ifdef APSTUDIO_INVOKED GUIDELINES DESIGNINFO BEGIN     IDD_APP, DIALOG     BEGIN     END END #endif    // APSTUDIO_INVOKED   #ifdef APSTUDIO_INVOKED ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // TEXTINCLUDE //  1 TEXTINCLUDE  BEGIN     "resource.h\0" END  2 TEXTINCLUDE  BEGIN     "#define APSTUDIO_HIDDEN_SYMBOLS\r\n"     "#include ""windows.h""\r\n"     "#undef APSTUDIO_HIDDEN_SYMBOLS\r\n"     "\0" END  3 TEXTINCLUDE  BEGIN     "\r\n"     "\0" END  #endif    // APSTUDIO_INVOKED  #endif    // English (United States) resources /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////    #ifndef APSTUDIO_INVOKED ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // Generated from the TEXTINCLUDE 3 resource. //   ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// #endif    // not APSTUDIO_INVOKED 

Answer 1

If you already haven't done it, try adding "SDK Path\Include" to:

Project → Preferences → C/C++ → General → Additional Include Directories 

And add "SDK Path\Lib" to:

Project → Preferences → Linker → General → Additional Library Directories 

Also, try to change "Windows.h" to <windows.h>

If won't help, check the physical existence of the file, it should be in "\VC\PlatformSDK\Include" folder in your Visual Studio install directory.

Answer 2

Start Visual Studio. Go to Tools->Options and expand Projects and solutions. Select VC++ Directories from the tree and choose Include Files from the combo on the right.

You should see:

$(WindowsSdkDir)\include

If this is missing, you found a problem. If not, search for a file. It should be located in

32 bit systems:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Include

64 bit systems:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Include

if VS was installed in the default directory.

Source: http://forums.codeguru.com/showthread.php?465935-quot-windows-h-no-such-file-or-directory-quot-in-Visual-Studio-2008!-Help&p=1786039#post1786039