How to solve the "unresolved external symbol" link error in visual c++?

Question

I Have the Visual Studio C++ 2008 Express Edition.

I am trying to compile a program but I am getting the following Link Error:

1>MSVCRT.lib(wcrtexew.obj) : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _wWinMain@16

What I tried to do:

I found this on google:

For Visual C++ .NET: In the Advanced category of the Linker folder in the Project Properties dialog box, set the Entry Point to wWinMainCRTStartup.

It was intended to work but didn't. How do I compile this app?

The code is stupidly simple:

#include "stdafx.h"
int main( int argc, char ** argv )
{
}

Answer 1

There are multiple ways to solve this:

1. Create a console application
2. Change the Subsystem console now in the linker settings ( Project Settings -> Linker -> System -> SubSystem (select Console))
3. Change the entry point in the linker settings to mainCRTStartup (Project Settings -> Linker -> Advanced -> Entry Point)

4. Define int CALLBACK WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,LPSTR lpCmdLine,int nCmdShow ); instead of int main(int argc, char const ** argv)

5. Change the Character Set to Use Unicode Character Set (Project Settings -> General->Character Set )

Answer 2

It looks like when you created your project you selected a GUI (Win32, MFC, etc) program. Those programs have a WinMain() instead of a main().

What you want is a Console project.