How to compile a 64-bit application using Visual C++ 2010 Express?

Question

Here are step by step instructions:

1. Download and install the Windows Software Development Kit version 7.1. Visual C++ 2010 Express does not include a 64 bit compiler, but the SDK does. A link to the SDK: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb980924.aspx
2. Change your project configuration. Go to Properties of your project. On the top of the dialog box there will be a "Configuration" drop-down menu. Make sure that selects "All Configurations." There will also be a "Platform" drop-down that will read "Win32." Finally on the right there is a "Configuration Manager" button - press it. In the dialog that comes up, find your project, hit the Platform drop-down, select New, then select x64. Now change the "Active solution platform" drop-down menu to "x64." When you return to the Properties dialog box, the "Platform" drop-down should now read "x64."
3. Finally, change your toolset. In the Properties menu of your project, under Configuration Properties | General, change Platform Toolset from "v100" to "Windows7.1SDK".

These steps have worked for me, anyway. Some more details on step 2 can be found in a reference from Microsoft that a previous poster mentioned: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9yb4317s.aspx.

64-bit tools are not available on Visual C++ Express by default. To enable 64-bit tools on Visual C++ Express, install the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) in addition to Visual C++ Express. Otherwise, an error occurs when you attempt to configure a project to target a 64-bit platform using Visual C++ Express.

How to: Configure Visual C++ Projects to Target 64-Bit Platforms

Ref: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9yb4317s.aspx

And make sure you download the Windows7.1 SDK, not just the Windows 7 one. That caused me a lot of head pounding.

I found an important step to add to this - after you've installed the SDK, go to your project properties and change Configuration Properties->General->Platform Toolset from v100 or whatever it is to Windows7.1SDK. This changes $(WindowsSdkDir) to the proper place and seemed to solve some other difficulties I was encountering as well.