MSB4018 The "ResolveComReference" task failed unexpectedly

Question

I am currently trying to upgrade our c++ mfc solution from visual studio 2010 to a visual studio 2013 solution. When i try to build it i get the error MSB4018 The "ResolveComReference" task failed unexpectedly. I enabled fusion logging and this is what it tells me:

=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: DisplayName = System
(Partial)
WRN: Partial binding information was supplied for an assembly:
WRN: Assembly Name: System | Domain ID: 1
WRN: A partial bind occurs when only part of the assembly display name is provided.
WRN: This might result in the binder loading an incorrect assembly.
WRN: It is recommended to provide a fully specified textual identity for the assembly,
WRN: that consists of the simple name, version, culture, and public key token.
WRN: See whitepaper http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=109270 for more information and common solutions to this issue.
LOG: Appbase = file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/MSBuild/12.0/bin/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = NULL
Calling assembly : Microsoft.Build.Tasks.v12.0, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a. ===
LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Using application configuration file: C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\bin\MSBuild.exe.Config
LOG: Using host configuration file: 
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Policy not being applied to reference at this time (private, custom, partial, or location-based assembly bind).
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/MSBuild/12.0/bin/System.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/MSBuild/12.0/bin/System/System.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/MSBuild/12.0/bin/System.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/MSBuild/12.0/bin/System/System.EXE.

I understand that msbuild has been moved, but i dont understand why it is trying to find System.dll in the msbuild path, how can i make it look for it in its proper location?

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Edit: I have now also tried upgrading to visual studio 2012 which worked without bigger problems and I did not run into the same problem. However i noticed that when running devenv /upgrade (with vs2013) it seems to completely change everything under vc++ directories (it stayed unchanged when upgrading to vs2012). Could this have something to do with this issue?

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Edit2: Tried to build the project in vs2013 after upgrading it to 2012 (without running devenv /upgrade), this also didnt work so I guess the problem is not related to that...

Answer 1

After enabling diagonostic build output i found that it was 3 broken COM references in the project that where failing to load. Removing these references solved the building issue. These where only showing up as warnings in vs2010 but resulted in MSB4018 in vs 2013 for some reason.