Important notice for those of you building C++ projects with App-V virtualized Visual Studio 2008 . . .

. . . if you build it with debugging enabled it will not complete and will throw an error in the console window.

When using a virtualized instance of Visual Studio (sequenced following the instructions at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/appvirtualization/dd334515.aspx)

When users build a C++ project in Visual Studio 2008 with debugging enabled the compiled program will not run and gives an error in the console window and/or the interface.

ERROR in Visual Studio Interface:

 “Unable to start program ‘path_to_program\program_name.exe’.”

“This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Review the manifest file for possible errors. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem. For more details, please see the application event log.”

ERROR in console window:

“The system cannot execute the specified program.”

[To reproduce this specifically:

Create a new empty C++ project in Visual Studio. Write any compilable and runable code. Build the project (F7). Run the project without debugging (CTRL+F5) ]

 This problem does not occur when the project is set to release mode – only in debug mode.

This is caused by the debug run-time modules not being captured inside the virtual application package because of how the Application Virtualization side-by-side process works during sequencing. The debug runtimes are not used, so they are left out.

In order to work around this, the developer will need to install the debug runtimes on the local machine. They can be built out of Visual Studio 2008 pretty easily as follows:

 1. From Visual Studio, navigate to “File” – “New” – “Project.”

2. Select and expand “Other Project Types,” then “Setup and Deployment.”

3. In the Visual Studio Templates area, select “Setup Project.” Click “OK.”

4. In the Project window, Right-click “Setup1” and select “Add” – “Merge Module.”

5. Select all debug runtimes desired from the list.

6. Click Open

7. Right-click Setup1 and select “Build.”

8. Execute the project. It will install the modules you selected.